ESSAYS 


UPON  THE 


'     ORIGIN,  PERPETUITY,  CHANGE, 


AND 


PROPER  OBSERVANCE, 


OF  THE 


SABBATH. 


BY  HEMAN  HUMPHREY,.  D.  D. 

President  of  Amherst  College,  Mass. 


Published  under  the  direction  of  a  Committee  of  Gentlemen 
at  New- York. 


STEREOTYPED  BY    JAMES  CONNER,  NEW-TORK. 

NEW- YORK: 

JONATHAN  LEAVITT,  No.  182  BROADWAY. 

BOSTON : 
CROCKER  AND  BREWSTER, 

47  Washington-street. 

1829. 


{Southern  District  of  New-  York,  ss. 
BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  That  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  Au- 
gust, A.  D.  1829,  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  Jonathan  Leavitt,  of  the  said  District,  hath 
depo!?ited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  he 
claims  as  proprietor,  in  the  words  foUowinf,  to  wit : — 

"  Essays  upon  the  Origm,  Perpetuity,  Change,  and  Proper  Obser- 
vance of  the  Sabbath.  By  He  man  Humphrey,  President  of  AmherSt 
College,  Mass.  Published  under  the  direction  of  a  Committee  of  Gen- 
tlemen at  New-York." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled, 
"  an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies 
of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such 
copies,  during  the  time  therein  mentioned."  And  also  to  an  act, 
entitled,  "an  act,  supplementary  to  an  act,  entitled,  an  act  tor  the 
encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts, 
and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the 
times  therein  mentioned,  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the 
arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  historical  and  other  prints." 

FRED.  J.  BETTS, 
Clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  New- York, 


ADVERTISEMENT, 

BY   THE   COMMITTEE. 

The  substance  of  tMs  little  volume  was  published  a  few 
years  since  in  a  periodical  magazine ;  and  subsequently  in 
a  separate  form  for  more  general  distribution.  The  work 
has  just  been  revised  and  enlarged  by  the  author,  at  the 
request  of  a  committee  of  gentlemen  m  New- York,  and  is 
now  presented  to  the  pubUc,  with  the  earnest  prayer  that 
it  may  lead  all  into  whose  hands  it  shall  fall,  to  remember 
the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 

KNOWLES  TAYLOR, 
JAMES  SMITH, 
ELIJAH  PIERSON, 
LEWIS  TAPPAN, 
ABIJAH  SMITH, 
MARCUS  WILBUR, 


^PERTV  OF 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Introduction .        •        .        5 

Q,uESTiON  I.  Is  the  Sabbatli  of  divine  or  of  human 
origin,  and  when  was  it  instituted  7        ...        7 

QiTESTiON  II.  Was  the  Sabbath  intended  for  all  man- 
kind, or  only  for  a  part  7 18 

Question  III.  Which  day  of  the  week  was  original- 
ly appointed  to  be  kept,  and  for  what  reason  1       .      36 

Q,UESTi0N  IV.  Has  the  day  beep  changed  since  the 
Sabbath  was  instituted,  and,  if  so,  when,  and  for 
what  reason  1 38 

Question  V.  How  is  the  Sabbath  to  be  kept,  or 
sanctified  ? 50 

Conclusion, '•       .       .     93 


REG.  NOV  1880 

IXTRODUCTIOJjr.^  I C  &  li 


f 


Very  few  will  pretend  to  deny  the  utility  and 
importance  of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  Its  imme- 
diate advantages  are  seen  to  be  numerous  and 
great,  for  it  offers  timely  and  needful  rest  to  all 
the  laboring  classes  of  society.  It  promotes  clean- 
liness, and  ministers,  in  a  very  high  degree,  to 
health  and  intellectual  improvement.  It  kindly 
remembers  the  working  animals,  and  releases 
them,  one  day  in  seven,  from  their  toils.  It  divides 
time  into  portions  highly  convenient  for  the  trans- 
action of  worldly  business ;  and  thus  helps  to  re- 
gulate the  various  intercourse  of  a  great  commu- 
nity. It  restores  the  man  of  a  thousand  cares  and 
perplexities,  to  the  bosom  of  his  family,  and  af- 
fords time  for  reading,  for  reflection,  and  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  children.  It  brings  more 
gain  to  individuals  and  to  the  public,  than  could 
possibly  be  derived  from  unremitting  application 
to  secular  employments. 

By  its  weekly  return,  it  rebukes  our  worldli- 
ness ;  and  by  bringing  the  rich  and  the  poor  so 
often  together  to  worship  God,  and  receive  in- 
struction  from  his  word,  it  tends  exceedingly  to 
remove  prejudices,  soften  asperities,  and  elicit 
kindly  feelings ;  to  check  the  growth  of  pride, 
avarice,  and  sensuality ;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
to  encourage  truth,  temperance,  "  brotherly  kind 
ness,  and  charity."    In  addition  to  its  mighty  in 

1* 


6 

fluence  upon  oiiT  eternal  interests,  the  civil  and  po- 
litical benefits  of  the  Sabbath  are,  indeed,  too 
many  and  too  great  to  be  estimated.  It  is  a  far 
surer  guarantee  for  the  perpetuity  of  our  free  insti- 
tutions, than  all  the  physical  resources  of  the 
country.  It  is,  in  s^iort,  the  true  palladium  which 
protects  the  temple  of  liberty,  as  well  as  the  ark  of 
the  covenant. 

All  this  is  admitted,  (with  what  consistency  we 
do  not  stop  to  inquire,)  even  by  the  great  body  of 
those  who  are  hostile  to  every  proposed  measure 
for  rescuing  the  institution  from  desecration,  and 
restoring  to  it  the  hallowed  influence  which  it  has 
lost.  With  their  full  consent,  you  may  speak  of 
its  benefits  in  the  most  unqualified  terms,  provided, 
always,  that  you  do  nothing  to  guard  it  from  vio- 
lation, or  to  protect  yourself  and  family  from  dis- 
turbance in  your  most  solemn  devotions.  The 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  well,  as  far  as  it  may 
happen  to  suit  their  inclinations  and  convenience, 
but  no  further.  Thus  what  is  acknowledged  to 
be  for  the  general  good,  is  often  sacrificed  to  pri- 
vate cupidity  and  accommodation. 

With  the  sincere  Christian,  the  case  is  widely 
different.  Aside  from  the  authority  of  God,  a  so- 
ber conviction  of  the  public  utility  of  any  institu- 
tion must  of  course  powerfully  influence  his  prac- 
tice. Nor  indeed,  can  we  see  how  any  real  patriot 
can  trample  upon  an  institution  which  he  recog- 
nizes as  a  blessing  to  his  country.  Still  there  is  a 
wide  and  manifest  difference  between  common  rules 
of  expediency  and  the  dictates  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
and  our  ultimate  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  SaW)ath, 


must  be  "  to  the  law  and  the  testimony."  If  the 
Scriptures  do  not  require  us  to  keep  it  holy,  who 
shall  presume  to  bind  our  consciences  ?  But  if,  on 
the  other  hand,  this  is  a  divine  precept  of  universal 
obligation,  then  tlie  point  is  settled.  It  is  as  binding 
upon  us  as  any  other  law  of  Heaven,  and  we  vio- 
late it  at  our  peril. 

Is  the  sabbath,  then,  of  divine  or  of  human  ori- 
gin, and  when  was  it  instituted  ?  Was  it  in- 
tended for  all  mankind,  or  only  for  a  part? 
Which  day  of  the  week  was  originally  appoint- 
ed, and  for  what  reason  ?  Has  the  day  since 
been  changed,  and  if  so,  vjhen,  and  for  w>hat 
reason!  And  how  is  the  Sabbath  to  be  kept,  or 
sanctified  7  These  are  questions  which  every  per- 
son has  a  right  to  ask,  nay,  which  every  one  is 
bound  to  ask,  that  his  "  faith  may  not  stand  in  the 
wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God." 

QUESTION  I. 

Is  the  sabbath  of  divine,  or  of  human  origin^ 
and  when  was  it  instituted  ? 

That  the  sabbath  is  "  from  Heaven,  and  not  of 
men,"  must  be  conceded  by  all,  who  read  and  be- 
lieve the  Bible.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest  and 
richest  gifts  of  God  to  man.  The  record  of  the 
institution  is  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  inspired 
volume,  and  in  these  words  :  On  the  seventh  day, 
God  ended  his  work  which  he  had  made  ;  and 
he  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work^ 
which  he   had  made.     And  God  blessed  the 


8 

seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it :  because  that  in 
it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work,  which  God 
had  created  and  made.  This  is  the  first  and 
the  only  account  of  the  original  institution  of  the 
Sabbatli,  which  the  pen  of  inspiration  has  re- 
corded. Wherever  it  is  subsequently  mentioned, 
it  is  spoken  of,  not  as  a  new  enactment,  but  as  a 
primary  and  standing  law  of  the  divine  adminis- 
tration. 

But  when  did  God  institute  the  Holy  Sabbath  7 
Those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  reading  and  under- 
standing the  Scriptures  according  to  the  common 
rules  of  interpretation,  will  doubtless  marvel  that 
such  a  question  should  ever  be  asked.  "  For  can 
any  thing,"  they  v/ill  demand,  "be  more  explicit, 
than  the  passage  just  quoted  ?  Surely  there  is  no- 
thing ambiguous,  either  in  the  words  themselves, 
or  in  their  connexion  with  the  preceding  narrative. 
The  plain  account  is,  that  when  God  had  finished 
the  great  work  of  creation,  he  rested  from  it  on  the 
very  next,  or  seventh  day ;  and  that  then  he  blessed 
the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it."  Yes,  we  reply, 
this,  according  to  common  understanding,  is  just 
what  the  sacred  penman  asserts ;  nor  do  we  believe 
that  one  man  in  a  million,  would  think  of  putting 
any  other  construction  upon  the  passage.  Indeed, 
no  one,  so  far  as  we  know,  ever  denied  this  to  be 
the  most  natural  meaning. 

But  then,  it  has  been  strangely  argued,  that  this 
cannot  be  the  true  meaning ;  and  that  the  Sabbath 
would  not  have  been  given  to  our  first  parents  m 
paradise,  because,  as  the  objectors  allege,  "  neither 
the  observance,  nor  even  the  existence  of  the  insti- 


tution,  is  afterward  once  mentioned,  or  so  much  as 
hinted  at  by  Moses,  till  the  manna  fell  in  the  wil- 
derness ;  including  a  period  of  about  2500  years. 
Many  pious  men,  it  is  added,  certainly  lived  within 
that  period,  who  would  have  kept  the  Sabbath, 
had  any  such  divine  institution  existed ;  and  the 
fact  would  have  been  somewhere  noticed  by  the 
sacred  historian." 

Now,  however  plausible  or  ingenious  this  rea- 
soning may  appear,  at  the  first  glance,  it  will  not 
bear  examination.  For  what  though  we  are  no- 
where told,  in  so  many  words,  that  the  patriarchs 
observed  a  weekly  Sabbath  ?  It  is  rendered  highly 
probable  that  they  did,  independently  of  consider- 
ations hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  from  the  division 
of  time  into  weeks,  which  is  not  obscurely  hinted 
at  in  the  history  of  that  period.  Thus,  when  the 
waters  of  the  deluge  had  begun  to  subside,  Noah 
sent  out  a  dove  which  soon  returned.  At  the  end 
of  seven  days,  he  sent  her  out  again ;  and  at  the 
end  of  seven  days  more,  he  sent  her  out  a  third 
time.  Now  why  this  steady  preference  for  the 
number  seven  1  Why  did  not  the  patriarch  wait 
six  days,  or  eight  days,  or  any  other  number  ? 
Can  it  be  supposed  that  his  fixing  upon  seven,  and 
steadily  adhering  to  it,  was  purely  accidental? 
How  much  more  natural  to  conclude,  that  in  obe- 
dience to  the  authority  of  God,  as  expressed  in  the 
passage  already  quoted,  from  the  second  chapter 
of  Genesis,  he  observed  every  seventh  day  as  a 
Sabbath. 

A  similar  division  of  time,  is  incidentally  men- 
tioned in  the  twenty-ninth  chapter  of  Genesis. 


10 

"  Fulfil  her  week,  and  we  will  give  thee  this  also. 
And  Jacob  did  so,  and  fulfilled  his  week.''''  Now 
the  word  week'  is  every  where  used,  except  in  the 
prophecy  of  Daniel,  just  as  we  use  it.  It  never 
means  either  more,  or  less,  than  seven  days,  and 
one  of  the  seven  was  in  all  other  cases  the  Sabbath. 
It  cannot  be  admitted,  therefore,  that  the  sacred 
records  of  2500  years  contain  no  allusion  to  this 
subject.  But  what  if  they  had  been  entirely  si- 
lent ?  It  would  not  only  be  extremely  illogical, 
to  infer  that  the  Sabbath  was  unknown  and  unre- 
garded, considering  how  very  brief  the  history  of 
that  period  is  ;  but  the  argument  which  is  attempt- 
ed to  be  drawn  from  the  alleged  silence  of  the  sa- 
cred writer,  labors  under  this  additional  misfor- 
tune, that  if  it  proves  any  thing,  it  proves  too 
much.  It  equally  proves,  that  the  Sabbath  was 
entirely  unknown  and  unobserved,  from  the  time 
of  Joshua,  till  the  reign  of  David ;  as  no  mention 
is  made  of  it  in  the  history  of  that  long  period.  If 
mere  silence  is  proof  in  one  case,  it  is  equally  so 
in  the  other.  But  the  truth  is,  that  it  proves  no- 
thing in  either  case.  It  will  be  admitted,  that,  be- 
yond all  question,  the  pious  judges  of  Israel  "  re- 
membered the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy," 
though  the  observance  is  not  once  mentioned; 
and  so,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  patriarchs  kept  it 
before  them,  though  the  fact  is  not  expressly  stated 
by  Moses. 

Equally  fatal  to  this  favorite  argument  of  Dr. 
Paley,  is  the  silence  of  the  inspired  volume,  re- 
specting the  rite  of  circumcision,  from  the  death 
oi  Moses,  or  a  little  after,  till  the  days  of  Jeremiah  j 


11 

for  it  is  not  so  much  as  once  named,  or  alluded 
to,  during  a  period  of  more  than  800  years.  Will 
it  be  said,  can  it  possibly  be  believed,  that  Samuel 
and  David,  and  all  the  pious  kings  and  people — 
that  the  whole  Jewish  nation,  utterly  neglected 
that  essential  seal  of  the  covenant,  for  eight  ceri" 
turies  ?  The  supposition  cannot  be  admitted  for 
a  moment.  And  how  then  can  any  fair  reasoner 
argue,  from  the  alleged  silence  of  a  portion  of  the 
sacred  history,  still  more  concise,  that  Enoch,  and 
Noah,  and  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  kept 
no  Sabbath,  because  the  fact  is  not  expressly  stated. 
Other  examples,  having  the  same  bearing  on  the 
question  before  us,  might  be  adduced  ;  but  it  can- 
not be  necessary.  It  is  a  case  in  which  two  are  as 
good  as  two  hundred. 

Having  thus,  as  we  believe,  fairly  put  to  rest  the 
objection  against  the  early  date  of  the  Sabbath, 
drawn  from  the  alleged  silence  of  the  historian,  we 
proceed  to  show,  that  it  certainly  bears  date  from 
the  creation  of  the  world  itself. 

First,  from  the  order  of  the  sacred  narration. 
Having  celebrated  the  handy-work  of  the  Creator, 
in  a  regular  and  connected  narrative,  from  the  first 
day,  up  to  the  sixth  and  last ;  Moses  proceeds  in  the 
same  manner,  without  giving  the  least  intimation 
of  any  change  of  time  or  meaning,  to  inform  us, 
that  on  the  seventh  day  God  rested  from  all  his 
work,  and  that  he  blessed  and  sanctified  the  day. 
When  did  he  rest  ?  On  the  seventh  day,  that  is, 
the  seventh  day  of  the  world.  And  if  God's  rest- 
ing was  a  reason  why  men  should  rest  at  all,  then 


12 

it  was  a  reason  why  the  holy  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  should  commence  at  that  time. 

Again;  the  consecration  of  the  Sabbath,  evi- 
dently took  place  on  the  very  day  when  God  rest- 
ed from  all  his  work,  and  not  2500  years,  nor  one 
year,  nor  one  week,  afterward.  If  the  Sabbath  was 
instituted  to  commemorate  the  stupendous  work 
of  creation,  (and  who  can  doubt  it,)  what  can  be 
more  improbable,  (may  we  not  say  absurd,)  than 
the  supposition,  that  this  commemorative  ordi- 
nance was  never  heard  of,  was  not  even  appointed, 
till  the  world  was  two  thousand  and  five  hundred 
years  old  ? 

How  is  it  in  all  other  parallel  cases  ?  The  mi- 
raculous deliverance  of  Israel  from  Eg-ypt,  was 
commemorated  in  the  annual  feast  of  the  passover, 
from  the  very  night  of  that  great  deliverance.  In 
like  manner,  the  independence  of  these  United 
States,  has  been  annually  celebrated, //'o?/^  the  date 
of  the  solemn  declaration  itself.  And  so  it  is  with 
respect  to  all  those  events,  which  are  thought  wor- 
thy of  being  statedly  commemorated.  The  cele- 
bration always  commences  at,  or  near  the  time 
of  the  event.  How  strange,  how  incredible  the 
supposition  then,  that  the  solemn  consecration  of 
a  day  to  commemorate  the  creation  of  the  world 
should  form  a  solitary  exception. 

On  this  ground,  we  might  safely  rest  the  ques- 
tion, till  some  better  reason  than  we  have  ever  yet 
seen,  can  be  offered,  to  invalidate  the  position 
which  we  have  taken.  But  as  so  much  depends 
upon  this  point,  we  shall  offer  a  few  additional  ret 
marks,  to  expose  the  weakness  of  the  opposite  side 


13 

of  the  question.  If  the  Sabbath  was  not  instituted 
in  paradise,  nor  until  after  the  departure  of  Israel 
from  Egypt,  what  occasion  had  Moses  to  mention  it 
at  all,  in  connexion  with  his  account  of  the  creation, 
which  took  place  between  two  and  three  thousand 
years  before  ?  Why  did  he  not  wait,  till,  as  Dr. 
Paley  supposes,  the  Sabbath  was  actually  institu- 
ted in  the  wilderness ;  and  there  give  it  its  proper 
place  in  the  narrative  ?  Why  place  events  side  by 
side  in  the  history,  which,  according  to  the  suppo- 
sition we  are  controverting,  had  no  connexion  in 
fact,  but  were  separated  by  the  mighty  chasm  of 
twenty-five  centuries !  Surely,  the  Spirit  of  God 
never  could  have  directed  Moses  to  an  arrange- 
ment in  this  solitary  instance,  so  contrary  to  the 
regular  order  of  the  narration,  and  so  much  better 
calculated  to  mislead,  than  to  instruct  the  reader. 
And  yet  the  ingenuity  of  Paley  could  devise  no 
better  way  to  dispose  of  the  passage  which  we 
have  quoted  from  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis. 
It  must,  he  thought,  have  been  inserted  there,  not 
because  the  Sabbath  was  then  instituted,  but  by 
way  of  a  twenty-five  hundred  years'  anticipa- 
tion ! 

But  let  us  see  where  this  strange  interpretation 
will  lead  us.  Is  the  creation  of  the  world  itself 
recorded  in  the  first  chapter  of  Getiesis  by  way  of 
anticipation  7  It  must  be  so,  if  Dr.  Paley's  reason- 
ing, in  regard  to  the  Sabbath,  is  correct.  For  the 
same  inspired  writer,  who  tells  us  that  God  said, 
"  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light,"  on  the 
first  day,  and  (hat  Adam  was  created  on  the  sixth 
day,  is  equally  explicit  in  declaring,  that  on  the 

2 


14 

seventh  day,  God  rested  from  all  his  work,  and 
blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it.  There 
being  no  difference,  therefore,  in  the  phraseology, 
we  must  suppose  that  the  order  of  time  is  express- 
ed in  the  latter  case,  as  definitely  as  in  either  of 
the  former.  That  is,  if  we  understand  the  sacred 
historian  to  speak  in  the  second  chapter  of  Gene- 
sis, not  of  what  actually  took  place  at  the  time, 
but  of  what  was  to  be  done  after  the  lapse  of  twen- 
ty five  hundred  years,  then,  to  be  consistent,  we 
must  suppose  that,  in  the  first  chapter,  he  speaks 
of  man,  not  as  being  then  created,  but  to  be  crea- 
ted at  some  future  and  far  distant  period.  And 
so  we  shall  have  the  heavens  and  the  earth  created, 
not  at  the  time  specified  in  the  inspired  narrative, 
but  tM^o  or  three  thousand  years  afterward  j  that 
is,  after  they  were  created ;  and  all  this  just  by 
way  of  anticipation ! 

That  the  Sabbath  was  not  first  given  to  the  Is- 
raelites in  the  wilderness,  as  a  new  institution,  we 
argue — 

Secondly  ;  from  the  very  passage  in  the  six- 
teenth chapter  of  Exodus,  on  which  the  main  re- 
liance has  been  placed,  to  prove  that  no  Sabbath 
was  known  to  mankind  till  that  time :  "  And  it 
came  to  pass,  that  on  the  sixth  day  they  gathered 
twice  as  much  bread,  {i.  e.  twice  as  much  manna, 
as  on  any  preceding  day,)  two  omers  for  one  man; 
and  all  the  rulers  of  the  congregation  came  and 
told  Moses.  And  he  said  unto  them,  this  is  that 
which  the  Lord  hath  said,  '  To-morrow  is  the 
rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord ;  bake 
that  which  ye  will  bake,^  ^c." 


15 

The  first  question  suggested  by  this  passage  is, 
Why  did  the  people  gather  twice  as  much  food  on 
the  sixth  day,  as  they  had  gathered  on  the  fourth, 
or  the  fifth  ?  It  does  not  appear  from  the  history 
that  a  syllable  had  been  said  to  them  on  the  sub- 
ject. And  that  they  actually  made  this  double 
provision,  on  the  sixth  day,  of  their  own  accord, 
we  infer  from  two  considerations.  First — "The 
rulers  went  and  told  Moses,"  as  if  something  un- 
expected had  happened,  which  required  his  par- 
ticular direction.  Secondly — Moses  answered 
them,  just  as  if  he  had  never  alluded  to  the  subject 
before  :  This  is  that  ivhich  the  Lord  hath  said, 
<^c.  The  probability  arising  from  these  circum- 
stances is  very  strong,  therefore,  that  the  people 
had  some  previous  knowledge  of  the  Sabbath,  un- 
less we  can  suppose  they  foresaw  that  God,  after 
giving  mankind  all  their  time  for  2500  years,  was 
now  about  to  appropriate  one  seventh  part  to  him- 
self, and  so  resolved  to  anticipate  him  in  the  new 
arrangement ! 

Further  ;  our  supposition,  that  the  Jewish  law- 
giver here  speaks  of  the  Sabbath,  as  an  institution 
already  known,  though,  perhaps,  greatly  neglect- 
ed, and  almost  forgotten,  is,  we  think,  very  much 
strengthened,  by  the  phraseology  of  the  passage 
just  quoted.  "  This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath 
said,  to-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath." 
It  is  not  thus,  that  legislators  are  wont  to  speak 
in  the  first  promulgation  of  their  laws ;  but  it  is 
precisely  as  men  speak  every  day,  concerning  ex- 
isting institutions.  We  say,  familiarly,  that  "  to- 
morrow is  the  Sabbath,"  because  it  is  an  old  insti- 


16 

tution ;  but  if  there  never  had  been  a  Sabbath,  and 
the  supreme  magistrate  was  about  to  appoint  one 
by  special  statute,  he  would  not  say  to-morrow  ?>, 
but  to-morrow  shall  he  the  Sabbath.  The  weekly 
rest,  then,  was  appointed,  and  sanctified  before  the 
days  of  Moses.  Have  we  any  prior  account  of  it  ? 
We  have.  Where  is  it  ?  In  the  second  chapter 
of  Genesis,  and  no  where  else.  The  Sabbath,  then, 
was  instituted  in  paradise,  and  was  only  revived, 
when  the  bread  of  heaven  fell  round  about  the 
camp  in  the  wilderness. 

Thirdly  ;  we  are  irresistibly  led  to  the  same 
conclusion,  by  the  testimony  of  a  long  list  of  an- 
cient writers,  a  very  small  part  of  which,  only, 
can  be  brought  within  our  narrow  limits.  We  of- 
fer the  following,  just  to  acquaint  our  readers  with 
the  nature  and  variety  of  this  testimony. 

Homer  and  Hesiod  both  "  speak  of  the  seventh 
day  as  holy." 

Porphyry  says,  "the  Phcenicians  consecrated 
'One  day  in  seven  as  holy." 

Philo  says,  that  "  the  Sabbath  is  not  a  festival 
peculiar  to  any  one  people,  or  country,  but  is  com- 
mon to  all  the  world ;  and  that  it  may  be  named 
the  general  and  public  feast,  or  the  feast  of  the 
nativity  of  the  world." 

Josephus  affirms,  "  that  there  is  no  city,  either 
of  Greeks,  or  barbarians,  or  any  other  nation, 
where  the  religion  of  the  Sabbath  is  not  known." 

Lampidius  tells  us,  that  Alexander  Severus, 
the  Roman  emperor,  usually  went,  on  the  seventh 
day,  into  the  capitol,  there  to  offer  sacriUces  to  the 
gods. 


17 

The  learned  Grotius  tells  us,  "  that  the  memo- 
ry of  the  creation's  being  performed  in  seven 
days,  was  preserved,  not  only  among  the  Greeks 
and  Italians,  but  among  the  Celts  and  Indians,  all 
of  whom  divided  their  time  into  weeks."  The 
same  is  affirmed  by  other  writers,  of  the  Assyri- 
ans, Egyptians,  Arabians,  Romans,  Gauls,  Britons, 
and  Germans. 

And  how,  we  would  ask  every  candid  reader — 
how  is  this  remarkable  agreement  of  nations  so 
remote  from  each  other,  and  between  many  of 
whom  little  or  no  intercourse  ever  existed,  to  be 
accounted  for  ?  Will  it  be  said,  that  they  were  all 
originally  indebted  to  the  Jews  for  it  ?  By  whom, 
then,  was  the  Sabbath  borrowed  from  that  hated 
and  despised  people  1  Would  the  Egyptians  per- 
mit themselves  to  be  instructed  by  a  nation  whose 
civil  and  religious  institutions  they  abhorred? 
Would  their  mortal  enemies,  the  Assyrians? 
Would  the  fierce  and  independent  tribes  of  Ara- 
bia ?  Would  those  proud  and  mighty  masters  of 
the  world,  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  ?  Nothing 
can  be  more  improbable.  How,  then,  is  the  pro- 
blem to  be  solved  ?  By  a  recurrence  to  the  origi- 
nal institution  of  the  Sabbath  in  paradise.  God 
having  given  it  to  our  first  parents,  it  became 
known,  of  course,  to  all  the  antediluvian  patriarchs. 
From  Noah,  the  last  of  them,  it  was  handed  down 
by  tradition,  through  all  the  branches  of  his  fami- 
ly ;  and  thus,  in  process  of  time,  the  knowledge  of 
it,  though  greatly  obscured  and  mixed  with  fable, 
found  its  way  into  almost  every  part  of  the  world, 

2* 


18 

just  as  traditional  accounts  of  the"  deluge  were 
spread  among  all  nations. 

Our  first  question,  then,  is  answered ;  the  Sab- 
bath is  from  God ;  and  the  date  of  the  institution 
is  coeval  with  that  of  the  world. 

QUESTION  II. 

Was  the  Sabbath  intended  for  all  mankind,  or 
only  for  a  part? 

SECTION    I. 

That  the  Sabbath  was  not  given  to  the  Jews 
only,  follows  irresistibly  from  what  has  been  al- 
ready proved.  Tliey  had  no  existence  when  it 
was  instituted.  Even  Abraham,  the  "  father  of 
them  all,"  was  not  born  till  2000  years  afterward. 
That  it  should  be  made  peculiarly  prominent,  in 
the  history  of  that  nation,  was  natural,  and  even 
necessary,  from  the  circumstance,  that  to  them 
"  pertained  the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the 
covenants,  and  the  giving  the  law,  and  the  service 
of  God,  and  the  promises."  If  any  other  people 
had  been  chosen,  instead  of  the  Israelites,  the 
Sabbath  would  unquestionably  have  been  made 
equally  prominent  in  their  ecclesiastical  polity.  But 
it  could  not  be  intended  for  one  nation,  more  than 
another,  because  it  was  given  to  Adam,  the  great 
progenitor  of  the  human  family ;  and  through  him, 
to  all  his  posterity. 

If  the  Sabbath  was  needful  for  one  branch  of  the 
human  family,  as  a  day  of  rest  and  religious  im- 
provement, it  was  needful  for  all.    If  the  obser- 


19 

vance  of  it  was  eminently  calculated  to  promote 
the  temporal  and  spiritual  good  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tion, it  is  not  less  calculated  to  promote  the  good 
of  all  other  nations.  And  if  it  was  enjoined  and 
sanctified,  as  a  holy  commemorative  ordinance, 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  it  must,  in  the 
very  nature^ of  the  case,  be  obligatory  upon  all 
mankind. 

Two  great  institutions  originated  from  infinite 
authority  in  paradise ; — viz.  marriage,  and  the 
weekly  Sabbath.  Was  the  ordinance  of  marriage 
temporary,  or  perpetual  ?  Was  it  intended  for  one 
nation  only,  or  for  all  nations  ?  And  from  what 
date,  we  beg  leave  digressively  to  inquire,  did  the 
law  become  obligatory ;  from  the  date  of  the  sta- 
tute itself,  or  from  some  recognition  of  it,  two  or 
three  thousand  years  later?  Surely  that  man's 
logic  would  be  regarded  with  great  suspicion, 
who  should  maintain,  that  the  institution  of  mar- 
riage was  meant  to  be  obligatory  upon  a  single 
nation  only ;  and  that  not  from  the  date  of  the  in- 
stitution, but  in  some  far  distant  futurity !  And 
with  what  greater  consistency,  we  ask,  can  it  be 
maintained,  that  the  Sabbath,  the  other  great  primi- 
mitive  institution  so  often  mentioned,  was  made 
obligatory  only  upon  a  mere  fraction  of  the  hu- 
man family  ? 

SECTION    II. 

It  is  a  settled  principle,  in  all  governments,  that 
there  are  but  two  ways  in  which  any  law  can  cease 
to  be  binding  upon  the  people.    It  may  expire  by 


20 

its  own  limitations,  or  it  may  be  repealed  by  the 
same  authority  which  enacted  it ;  5nd  in  the  lat- 
ter case,  the  repealing  act  must  be  as  explicit  as 
the  law  itself.  Now,  we  have  it  in  proof,  that  the 
Sabbath  was  instituted  by  the  infinite  Lawgiver  in 
paradise.  In  priority  of  time,  it  stands  at  the  head 
of  all  his  enactments.  It  is  the  very  first  statute, 
in  that  code  of  laws,  Avhich  he  has  promulgated  in 
the  Bible.  Of  course,  it  has  an  authority  entirely 
independent  of  the  Jewish  ritual,- and  is  no  more  a 
part  of  that  system,  which  has  "  waxed  old  and 
vanished  away,"  than  the  sixth  commandment  is. 

The  law  of  the  Sabbath  can  never  expire  by  its 
own  limitations ;  and  for  the  plainest  of  all  reasonSj 
that  it  has  no  limitations.  And  God  blessed  the 
seventh  day  and  sanctified  it,  because  that  in  it, 
he  had  rested  from  all  his  work,  which  God  cre- 
ated and  made.  Now  if  this  solemn  act  made 
the  Sabbath  binding  upon  mankind  at  all,  it  made 
the  obligation  universal  and  perpetual,  as  no  limi- 
tation, or  exemption,  is  hinted  at.  If  the  divine 
consecration  of  one  seventh  part  of  time,  made  it 
the  duty  of  our  first  parents  to  keep  it  holy,  it 
clearly  imposes  the  same  duty  upon  their  posteri- 
ty ;  no  intimation,  as  we  have  already  observed, 
being  given,  that  the  sacred  rest  was  intended  for 
a  part  of  mankind  only,  or  was  to  be  observed  only 
for  a  limited  period.  The  law,  then,  still  remains 
in  force,  and  must  remain  to  the  end  of  time,  un- 
less God  himself  has  seen  fit,  or  shall  hereafter  see 
fit,  to  repeal  it,  there  being  no  other  authority  in 
the  universe  that  can  strike  out  a  letter  of  it. 

Has  God  abrogated  the  law  ?    If  he  has,  the 


21 

place  can  easily  be  found  by  our  opponents ;  and 
let  them  point  it  out  to  us ;  for  we  confess,  that  we 
have  never  yet  been  able  to  find  it.  What  if  they 
can  show  us,  that  the  ceremonial  law  lias  been  ex- 
pressly annulled  ?  It  is  nothing  to  the  purpose ; 
for  the  weekly  Sabbath  existed  independently  of 
that  law.  The  chapter  and  verse  must  be  point- 
ed out,  in  which  the  original  sabbatical  law  is 
expressly  repealed.  Nothing  else  will  satisfy  a 
candid  inquirer. 

If  the  repealing  act  is  any  where  recorded  in  the 
Bible,  it  is  either  in  Rom.  xiv.  5,  6 ;  or  in  Col.  ii. 
16,  17.  No  one,  we  believe,  pretends  to  place 
much  stress  upon  any  other  passage.  Let  these 
then  be  carefully  examined,  not  as  independent 
texts,  but  in  connexion  with  the  obvious  design 
and  scope  of  the  apostle's  reasoning.  The  text 
in  Romans  is  this :  One  man  esteemeth  one  day 
above  another ;  another  esteemeth  every  day 
alike.  Let  every  man  he  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind.  He  that  regardeth  the  day,  regard- 
eth  it  unto  the  Lord;  and  he  that  regardeth  not 
the  day,  to  the  Lord  he  doth  not  regard  it. 
Does  the  apostle  here  mean  to  say,  that  under  the 
new,  or  Christian  dispensation,  it  is  a  matter  of  in- 
difference which  day  of  the  week  is  kept  as  a  Sab- 
bath, or  whether  any  Sabbath  at  all  is  kept?  Sure- 
ly those  who  thus  construe  his  meaning,  "  do 
greatly  err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures." 

Every  attentive  reader  of  the  New  Testament, 
must  have  observed,  that  for  some  years  after  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
dispensations  were,  in  practice,  blended  together ; 


the  former  being  gradually  abolished,  and  the  lat- 
ter as  gradually  brought  in  to  take  its  place. 
Hence  arose  many  of  those  unhappy  disputes, 
which  disturbed  the  harmony  of  the  primitive 
churches.  Many  of  the  Jewish  converts,  not  only 
adhered  strenuously  themselves  to  their  ancient 
ritual,  but  insisted  upon  the  conformity  of  Gentile 
converts ;— while  these  last  as  strenuously  main- 
tained, that  since  the  ceremonial  law  was  abolished, 
no  further  regard  to  its  prescription  of  meats,  days, 
&c.  was  either  necessary,  or  even  allowable.  To 
settle  these  disputes,  and  inspire  the  parties  with 
mutual  charity  and  forbearance,  the  apostle  took 
up  the  question  in  form,  and  disposed  of  it  in  the 
following  wise  and  catholic  manner.  "  Him  that 
is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye  ;  but  not  to  doubt- 
ful disputation.  For  one  believeth  that  he  may  eat 
all  things.  Another,  that  is  weak,  eateth  herbs. 
Let  not  him  that  eateth,  despise  him  that  eateth 
not ;  and  let  not  him  that  eateth  not,  judge  him 
that  eateth  ;  for  God  hath  received  him.  Who  art 
thou  that  judgest  another  man's  servant  ?  To  his 
own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth ;  yea,  he  shall 
be  hoiden  up,  for  God  is  able  to  make  him  stand. 
One  man  esteemeth  one  day  above  another;  ano- 
ther esteemeth  every  day  alike.  Let  every  man 
be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind.  He  that  re- 
gardeth  the  day,  regardeth  it  unto  the  Lord.  And 
he  that  regardeth  not  the  day,  to  the  Lord  he  doth 
not  regard  it.  He  that  eateth,  eateth  to  the  Lord, 
for  he  giveth  God  thanks ;  and  he  that  eateth  not, 
to  the  Lord  he  eateth  not,  and  giveth  God  thanks." 
Now,  it  is  plain,  from  every  word  of  this  quota- 


23 

tion,  that  the  inspired  umpire  refers ''Expressly  to 
the  existing  controversy,  respecting  the  ceremonial 
law  ;  and  not  at  all  to  the  question,  whether  the 
original  Sabbath  was  abolished,  or  not.  Indeed,  it 
seems  extremely  doubtful,  whether  the  passage  con- 
tains the  slightest  reference  to  the  weekly  Sabbath. 
The  religious  observance  of  many  other  days,  was 
strictly  enjoined  in  the  Levitical  code.  All  that 
can  fairly  be  gathered,  therefore,  from  this  quota- 
tion, is,  that  Christians  in  the  early  part  of  the 
apostolic  age,  might,  or  might  not,  keep  those  feast 
days;— that  is,  might  act  according  to  the  dictates 
of  their  own  consciences.  If  one  man  thought 
that  he  was  bound  to  observe  any  particular  day, 
let  him  observe  it ;  but  without  censuring  his  bro- 
ther who  might  be  of  a  different  opinion.  Let 
every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind, 
and  act  accordingly.  The  law  of  the  Sabbath  then 
is  not  repealed  here. 

Is  it  repealed  in  Col.  ii.  16,  17,  to  which  we  have 
also  referred  ?  Let  no  man,  therefore,  judge  you  in 
meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  an  holy  day, 
or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath  days, 
which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come  ;  but  the 
body  is  of  Christ.  ''  Here  then,"  some  have  tri- 
umphantly alleged,  "  is  the  repealing  act ;  and  the 
Sabbath,  as  a  divine  institution,  is  no  more  !"  Wo 
to  the  world  if  it  be  so.  But  to  this  construction, 
which  strikes  at  the  foundation  of  all  Christian 
institutions,  three  distinct  answers  are  ready. 

In  the  first  place,  it  takes  for  granted  the  very 
thing  to  be  proved ; — viz.  that  the  apostle  is  here 
speaking  of  the  weekly  Sabbath ;  when  it  is  all 


24 

but  certain,  \^'e  think,  that  he  has  no  allusion  to 
it.  The  plural  form  Sabbath  days^  which  is  here 
adopted,  rarely  if  ever  occurs  in  Scripture,  when 
the  original  institution  is  intended.  But  there 
were  other  Sabbaths  which  the  Jews  were  required 
to  keep :  as  for  example,  the  first  day  of  the 
seventh  month,  and  also  the  tenth  day  of  the  same, 
throughout  their  generations.  See  Lev.  xxxiii. 
"And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  in  the  seventh 
month,  on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  shall  ye  have 
a  Sabbath,  a  memorial  of  blowing  of  trumpets,  an 
holy  convocation.  Ye  shall  do  no  servile  work 
therein.  Also  on  the  tenth  day  of  this  seventh 
month,  there  shall  be  an  atonement.  It  shall  be 
unto  you  a  Sabbath  of  rest,  and  ye  shall  afflict 
your  souls."  That  these  ceremonial  Sabbaths, 
and  not  the  holy  rest  of  paradise,  are  referred  to, 
in  the  passage  above  quoted,  is  made  nearly,  if  not 
quite  certain,  by  the  fact,  that  all  the  other  speci- 
fications, such  as  meat,  drink,  the  new  moon,  &c. 
are  ceremonial.  At  any  rate,  the  contrary  can 
never  be  proved.  To  assert,  therefore,  that  the 
repealing  act  is  found  here,  is,  we  repeat,  a  mere 
begging  of  the  question.  This  is  our  first  answer. 
Secondly,  allowing  for  argument's  sake,  that  the 
apostle  had  the  Jewish  seventh  day  Sabbath  in  his 
eye,  and  meant  to  release  the  Christian  church 
from  keeping  that  particular  day,  what  does  it 
amount  to  ?  To  an  abrogation  of  the  Sabbath  itself, 
or  merely  to  a  change  of  the  day,  which,  however, 
in  the  twilight  of  the  Gospel  dispensation,  was 
not  authoritatively  enjoined?  The  latter,  (if  the 


25 

apostle  alludes  to  the  original  institution  at  all,) 
we  take  to  be  the  true  meaning.  A  conscientious 
Jew  who  still  adhered  to  the  seventh  day  of  the 
week,  would  be  accepted,  as  well  as  the  convert- 
ed Gentile,  who  kept  the  first  day.  This  is  our 
second  answer. 

The  third,  may  be  given  chiefly  in  the  words 
of  an  able  foreign  writer.  "  It  is  evident  from 
the  context,"  he  observes,  "  that  the  apostle  was 
bpeaking  of  the  ordinances  of  the  ceremonial  law 
for  the  neglect  of  which,  no  Christian  was  to  be 
condemned.  Blotting  out  the  hand  writing  of 
ordinances  that  was  against  us,  which  was  con- 
trary to  us,  and  took  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing 
it  to  his  cross.  Let  no  man  therefore  judge  you 
in  meat,  or  drink,  d^c. — or  of  the  Sabbath  days. 
In  this  passage,  the  apostle  is  clearly  speaking  of 
burdensome  ordinances;  of  something  that  was 
against  them,  and  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel.  But  can  any  pious  person  conceive,  that 
the  spending  one  day  in  seven  in  spiritual  services, 
could  be  ranked  by  the  holy  apostle,  among  the 
things  which  were  against  Christianity,  and  con- 
trary to  it  ?  Was  that  institution  which  the 
people  of  God  had  been  commanded  to  call  'a 
delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord  and  honorable,'  now 
to  be  esteemed  of  so  carnal  a  nature,  as  to  be  rank- 
ed amongst  the  things  which  Christ  took  out  of 
the  way,  nailing  it  to  his  cross  ?  Were  those  holy 
persons  who  had  been  accustomed  to  adopt  the 
language  of  the  Psalmist,  '  I  was  glad  when  they 
said  unto  me,  let  us  go  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,' 
now  taught  to  esteem  a  day  spent  in  such  services^ 

3 


26 

as  a  part  of  that  yoke,  which  neither  the  apostle 
nor  their  fathers  were  able  to  bear  ?  We  must 
destroy  all  just  ideas  of  the  eflfects  which  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  was  intended  to  produce, 
before  we  can  adopt  such  an  interpretation  of  the 
apostle's  words." 

Where  then  is  the  repealing  act  ?  for  surely  it 
is  not  contained  in  either  of  the  passages  which 
we  have  examined.  Let  those  who  deny  the  per- 
petuity of  the  Sabbath,  tell  us  where.  But  they 
cannot  find  the  abrogation  which  they  so  anxious- 
ly seek.  Here  we  might  take  our  final  stand  in 
defence  of  the  sacred  institution ;  for  God  conse- 
crated the  Sabbath  by  his  own  authority  and  ex- 
ample, as  soon  as  he  had  built  the  world,  and 
breathed  into  man  the  breath  of  life.  The  law  has 
no  limitations,  and,  therefore,  can  never  expire. 
It  has  never  been  repealed ;  and,  as  the  sacred 
canon  is  full  and  complete,  we  are  certain  it  never 
will  be.  It  is,  therefore,  binding  upon  every  one 
of  us  at  this  moment ;  and  will  be  upon  all  future 
generations.  No  human  authority  may  expunge 
a  single  word  from  the  statutes  of  Jehovah.  It 
were  infinitely  less  daring,  for  the  meanest  subject 
of  the  mightiest  earthly  potentate,  to  declare  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  empire  null  and  void, 
than  for  man,  who  is  a  Avorm,  to  set  aside  the  in- 
stitutions of  his  Maker. 

» 

SECTION     III. 

We  derive  an  independent,  and  as  it  appears  to 
us,  irrefragable  argument  in  support  of  the  Sab- 


27 

bath,  from  the  fourth  commandment.  "Remem- 
ber the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy;  six  days 
shalt  thou  labour,  and  do  all  thy  work ;  but  tlie 
seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  ; 
in  it,  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy 
son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy 
maid-servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  the  stranger  that 
is  within  thy  gates ;  for  in  six  days  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is, 
and  rested  the  seventh  day  :  wherefore  the  Lord 
blessed  the  Sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it." 

The  first  thing  which  strikes  the  mind  in  read- 
ing over  this  statute,  is,  that  it  is  extremely  expli- 
cit and  particular.  It  recognises  the  previous 
existence  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  word  revicmber  ; 
and  strictly  enjoins  the  observance  of  it  upon 
somebody.  The  single  question  is,  upon  whom  ? 
If  upon  the  Jews  only,  as  a  part  of  their  ceremo- 
nial law,  then  it  has  no  claim  upon  us.  But  if  the 
command  was  not  intended  to  be  thus  confined  in 
its  application,  it  must  doubtless  be  understood  in 
the  most  general  sense ;  and  is,  of  course,  binding 
wherever  it  is  promulgated. 

The  next  question  is,  to  what  code  of  laws  does 
this  command  belong,  and  what  peculiar  circum- 
stances attended  its  promulgation  ?  Turning  to  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  Exodus,  and  onward,  we 
find,  that  two  distinct  codes  were  Avritten  out  and 
given  to  the  people  of  Israel  at  Mount  Sinai.  The 
first  was  written  by  God  himself,  on  tables  of 
stone;  and  the  other  was  received  at  his  mouth, 
and  recorded  by  Moses.  One  is  called  the  moral 
law;  and  the  other,  the  ceremonial^  or  Levitical 


28 

law.  The  latter,  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  has 
"  vanished  away."  But  the  fourth  commandment, 
just  quoted,  is  one  of  the  ten,  which  were  written 
on  stone  by  the  finger  of  God.  The  other  nine 
are  indisputably  of  universal  and  perpetual  obli- 
gation. They  are  as  strongly  binding  upon  us,  as 
they  were  upon  the  men  who  beheld  the  fires,  and 
heard  the  thunderings,  and  felt  the  quakings  of 
Sinai.  And  how  is  it  with  the  fourth  which  en- 
joins the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath?  "If  it  is 
not  equally  obligatory  upon  all  men,  why  was  it 
engraved  by  the  same  divine  hand,  and  on  the 
same  enduring  tables?"  There  was  no  apparent 
necessity  for  it.  It  might  just  as  easily  have  been 
incorporated  into  the  other  system,  which  was  de- 
signed to  be  temporary :  and  who  can  doubt,  that 
it  would  have  been,  if  the  Lawgiver  had  intended 
that  it  should  ever  "  wax  old  and  vanish  away  ?" 
Surely  it  was  never  his  design  to  mislead  us  by 
presenting  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  to  us,  in  most 
intimate  connexion  with  all  the  moral  precepts 
of  the  decalogue.  Suppose  that  a  wise  and  be- 
nevolent human  legislator  were  to  promulgate  two 
separate  codes  of  laws,  the  one  temporary,  and 
the  other  perpetual;  would  he,  without  any  ex- 
planation, take  one  important  statute,  which  be- 
longed to  the  former,  and  incorporate  it  into  the 
latter?  And  can  it  be  believed,  for  a  moment, 
that  God  ever  intended  so  to  bewilder  his  account- 
able creatures  ?  Here,  then,  is  the  moral  law.  It 
contains  ten  commandments.  They  were  all  writ- 
ten twice,  by  the  infinite  Legislator  hiipself,  on 
tables  of  stone.    The  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  is 


29 

expressly  enjoined  by  the  fourth.  There  is  no 
intimation,  that  this  was  ever  to  become  obsolete, 
any  more  than  the  fifth,  or  the  seventh.  In  short, 
it  stands  just  where  God,  in  his  infinite  wisdom, 
saw  fit  to  place  it;  and  whom  has  he  authorized  to 
strike  it  out  ?  Let  the  man  who  would  do  it,  show 
his  authority.  It  must  be  very  express,  for  the 
law  is  so.  But  no  such  authority,  we  are  confi- 
dent, can  be  produced.  God  never  meant  that  his 
law  should  be  mutilated  and  weakened,  to  release 
his  rebellious  subjects  from  their  allegiance.  There 
is,  we  conceive,  no  less  temerity,  upon  the  face  of 
the  deed,  in  blotting  out  the  fourth  commandment, 
or,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  in  denying 
its  present  obligation,  than  there  would  be  in 
striking  out  any  other  section  of  God's  law. 

But  then  it  is  said,  that  while  the  other  nine 
commandments  are  strictly  moral,  that  is,  are 
founded  upon  the  immutable  relations  of  mankind 
to  God,  and  to  each  other,  the  fourth  is  a  positive 
rather  than  a  moral  precept,  and  of  course,  stands 
on  different  ground.    This  is  Dr.  Paley's  evasion. 

Let  us  examine  it  for  a  moment.  Positive  pre- 
cepts are  of  two  kinds ;  such  as  impose  obligations 
upon  moral  beings  in  reference  to  something 
which  is  in  itself  indifferent';  or's-llch  as  itequire 
certain  duties  which  were  antecedently  unknown, 
and  would  have  remained  so,  biit  for* the  precept 
which  enjoins  them.  .  "  These  last  are  no  less  of 
a  moral  nature,  than  if  the  duties  and  the  relations 
from  which  they  spring,  had  always  been  perfect- 
ly known."  ■         ' '^ 

But  take  the  strongest  case  possible.    Suppose 
3* 


30 

that,  antecedently  to  the  command  of  God,  no 
reason  whatever  had  existed  for  keeping  a  Sab- 
bath, any  more  than  for  abstaining  from  the  for- 
bidden tree,  would  not  the  positive  annunciation 
of  Jehovah  have  been  as  imperative  in  one  case 
as  the  other?  And  under  such  a  positive  enactment, 
as  long  as  it  remained  in  force,  would  it  not  have 
been  the  duty  of  all,  to  whom  the  command  was 
addressed,  to  obey?  Could  any  man  have  excused 
himself  by  saying,  this  is  not  a  moral,  but  only  a 
positive  institution  ?  Here,  then,  is  a  divine  pre- 
cept :  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy : 
and  in  regard  to  this  point  we  adopt  the  same  rea- 
soning as  in  the  last  section.  Before  the  authority 
of  any  law  of  Heaven  can  cease,  it  must  either  be 
repealed  by  God  himself,  or  expire  by  its  own  li- 
mitations. The  fourth  commandment,  whether  it 
be  moral  or  positive,  has  not  expired,  has  not  been 
repealed,  and  of  course  is  still  binding  upon  every 
conscience. 

But  the  Sabbath  is  not  a  mere  positive  institu- 
tion. That  it  is  in  the  most  important  sense  mo- 
ral, is  evident,  as  the  late  President  Dwight  well 
observes,  from  the  following  considerations. 

"  It  was  intended  to  give  the  laborious  classes 
of  mankind  an  opportunity  of  resting  from* toil." 

"It  was  intended  to  be  a  commemoration  of  the 
wisdom,  power,  and  goodness  of  God,  in  the  crea- 
tion of  the  universe." 

"  It  was  intended  to  furnish  an  opportunity  of 
increasing  holiness  in  man,  while  in  a  state  of 
innocence." 

"  It  was  intended  to  furnish  an  opportunity  to 


31 

fallen  man,  of  acquiring  holiness,  and  of  obtaining 
salvation." 

"  In  every  one  of  these  respects,  the  Sabbath  is 
equally  useful,  important,  and  necessary  to  every 
child  of  Adam.  It  was  no  more  necessary  to  a 
Jew  to  rest  after  the  labor  of  six  days  was  ended, 
than  to  any  other  person.  It  was  no  more  neces- 
sary to  a  Jew^  to  commemorate  the  perfections  of 
God,  displayed  in  the  works  of  creation  ;  it  was 
no  more  necessary  to  a  Jew  to  obtain  holiness,  or 
to  increase  in  it;  it  was  no  more  necessary  to  a  Jew 
to  seek  or  to  obtain  salvation.  Whatever  makes 
either  of  these  things  interesting  to  a  Jew  in  any 
degree,  makes  them  in  the  same  degree  interest^ 
ing  to  any  other  man.  The  nature  of  the  com- 
mand, therefore,  teaches  as  plainly,  as  the  nature 
of  the  command  can  teach,  that  it  is  of  universal 
application  to  mankind.  It  has,  then,  this  great 
criterion  of  a  moral  precept,  viz.  universality  of 
application?'''^ 

Again ;  that  the  fourth  commandment  is  still  in 
force,  and  will  be  to  the  end  of  the  world,  is  mani- 
fest from  the  following  declarations  of  Christ  him- 
self, in  his  sermon  on  the  mount :  Think  not 
that  I  am.  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets : 
I  am  not  come  to  destroy^  but  to  fulfil.  For  I 
say  unto  you,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one 
jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  front  the 
law,  till  all  be  fulfilled.  That  our  Saviour  speaks 
here,  not  of  the  ceremonial,  but  of  the  moral  law, 
we  gather  with  certainty,  from  his  proceeding  in 

♦  See  Dwight'a  Tljieology,  Vol.  4.  Ser.  106. 


35i 

this  very  connexion,  to  expound  the  sixth,  seventh, 
and  eightli  commandments.^  Now,  if  he  had  in- 
tended to  ahrogate  one  of  the  longest  sections  of 
tlie  law,  would  he  have  disclaimed  all  intention  of 
touching  a  word,  or  letter  of  it  ?  It  cannot  be.  But 
if  he  left  it  just  as  he  found  it,  and  if  we  have  his 
divine  pledge  that  no  part  of  the  law  shall  fail, 
then  is  the  Sabbath  a  perpetual  institution. 

Further,  we  infer  the  perpetuity  of  the  fourth 
commandment  from  Rom.  iii.  31.  Do  we  then 
make  void  the  law  through  faith  7  God  forbid  ; 
yea,  we  establish  the  laiL\  What  law  ?  Not  the 
Jewish  ritual,  for  it  had  already  "  waxed  old  and 
vanished  away."  It  was  the  moral  law,  then, 
which  the  apostles  by  their  doctrines  established. 
And  what  is  it  to  establish  any  law  1  Is  it  not  to 
preserve  every  section  of  it  inviolate  ?  But  it 
could  never  have  been  said  that  the  moral  law 
was  established  through  faith,  if  an  essential  part 
of  it  had  been  annulled  by  the  bringing  in  of  the 
gospel  dispensation. 

Finally,  the  very  position  of  the  fourth  com- 
mandment, or  the  place  which  it  occupies  in  the 
decalogue,  strongly  confirms  the  foregoing  con- 
clusions. The  first  three  commandments  pre- 
scribe the  duties  which  we  owe  to  God :  the  last 
six,  the  duties  which  we  owe  to  our  fellow  men  • 
and  one  relating  to  the  Sabbath  stands  between 
them,  as  the  connecting  link— as  the  main  pillar 
and  support  of  the  whole  system.  Without  this 
divine  bond  of  union,  neither  piety  to  God,  nor 
love  to  man,  could  be  preserved  in  the  world. 

Or,  as  an  old  writer  rather  quaintly,  but  forei- 


33 

bly  remarks,  "  The  fourth  commandment  is  put 
into  the  bosom  of  the  decalogue,  that  it  might  not 
be  lost ;  it  is  the  golden  clasp  which  joins  the  two 
tables  together;  it  is  the  sinew  in  the  body  of 
laws,  which  were  written  with  God's  own  finger ; 
it  is  the  intermediate  precept,  which  participates 
of  the  sanctity  of  both  tables;  and  the  due  ob- 
servance of  which,  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  whole 
law."  Such  a  "  clasp"  who  shall  venture  to  break  ? 
Such  a  "  sinew"  who  can  attempt  to  sever  with 
impunity  ? 

SECTION   IV. 

It  is,  to  our  minds,  a  delightful  and  conclusive 
argument  iijL  favor  of  the  Sabbath,  that  it  was  given 
to  man  in  his  primitive  holiness,  and  is  to  be  per- 
petually kept  in  heaven. 

1.  It  was  given  to  man  before  his  apostacy. 
We  should  have  been  apt  to  think,  perhaps,  that 
while  our  first  parents  retained  their  primitive  in- 
nocence, it  would  answer  no  valuable  purpose  to 
enjoin  upon  them  the  religious  observance  of  any 
particular  day,  inasmuch  as  they  were  disposed  to 
spend  every  day  in  the  service  of  their  Creator. 
The  Sabbath  they  could  not  need  as  a  season  of 
rest,  for  their  labor,  if  labor  it  might  be  called,  was 
most  easy  and  invigorating.  It  was  only  to  dress 
the  garden  and  keep  it.  No  more  toil,  as  the 
prince  of  epic  poets  expresses  it. 

Than  sufficed 
To  recommend  cool  zephyrs,  and  made  ease 
More  easy ;  wholesome  thirst  and  appetite 
More  grateful. 


34 

God,  however,  was  pleased  to  enjoin,  even  upon 
them,  a  weekly  interriiission  of  their  delightful 
care  of  plants  and  flowers,  that  nothing  might  di- 
vert their  minds  from  the  far  more  animating  du- 
ties of  praise  and  adoration.  And  had  they  kept 
their  first  estate,  and  remained  in  paradise  forever, 
the  same  reasons  which  made  it  proper  for  them 
to  observe  the  Sabbath  at  all,  would  have  made 
the  duty  and  the  privilege  perpetual.  Or  had  they 
lived  a  thousand  years  in  perfect  holiness,  and  then 
been  translated  to  heaven,  they  would  hjave  gone 
from  the  enjoyment  of  earthly  Sabbaths  to  an 
eternal  rest.     For, 

2.  Heaven  is  a  place  of  rest.  It  is  that  holy 
Sabbatism,  which  "remaineth  to  the  people  of 
God  f  and  of  which  the  weekly  Sabbath  is  evi- 
dently a  type.  In  Heaven,  there  will  be  no  toil, 
no  bodily  wants  to  supply,  no  fatigue  demanding 
repose,  no  wasting  or  flagging  of  the  immortal 
energies  of  the  blessed.  And  yet,  they  will  rest 
for  ever.  They  will  keep  an  endless  Sabbath. 
They  will  spend  a  blissful  and  ever-brightening 
eternity,  in  celebrating  the  perfections  of  God — the 
works  and  glories  of  the  Lamb. 

And  can  it  be,  that  he  who  gave  the  Sabbath  to 
our  first  parents,  as  soon  as  he  had  created  them, 
and  will  give  an  eternal  Sabbatism  to  all  his  peo- 
ple in  Heaven,  has  left  so  wide  a  chasm  between 
the  earthly  paradise  and  the  celestial  ?  Was  the 
rest  which  God  ordained  below,  a  type  of  that 
above?  It  is  the  nature  of  every  type,  to  continue 
until  it  is  superseded  by  the  anti-type.  Thus  it 
was  with  all  the  typical  institutions  of  the  Jewish 


35 

ritual.  They  continued  till  Christ,  tlie  great  anti- 
type, came,  and  then  they  disappeared.  And  thus 
the  earthly  Sabbath  must  continue,  till  it  shall  be 
superseded  by  the  lieavei":h\ 

For  the  same  reason,  that  it  was  the  duty  and 
the  privilege  of  tlie  first  human  pair  to  keep  the 
Sabbath  before  the  apostacy,  would  it  have  been 
the  duty  and  privilege  of  all  their  posterity,  had 
sin  never  entered  the  M^orld.  But  how  much  more 
do  their  depraved  children,  in  every  land  and  every 
age,  need  stated  seasons  of  rest  from  the  laborious 
employments  to  which  they  are  doomed  ?  How 
much  more  do  they,  who  have  lost  the  image  of 
God,  and  are  prone,  continually,  to  forget  their 
obligations  and  dependance,  need  the  leisure  and 
the  solemn  stillness  of  the  Sabbath,  to  recall  them 
from  their  wanderings,  and  assist  them  in  their 
preparations  for  Heaven  ?  Had  man,  in  his  primxi- 
tive  state,  been  totally  depraved,  and  since  been 
made  perfectly  holy,  as  Adam  was  5  had  the  Sab- 
bath, moreover,  been  given  him  in  his  original 
sinful  state,  it  might  have  been  plausibly  argued, 
that  since  the  happy  renovation,  such  an  institu- 
tion could  no  longer  be  necessary.  But  what  can 
be  more  absurd,  than  to  adopt  the  reverse  of  this 
argument,  and  saj^,  that  the  sacred  rest  which  God 
gave  to  man  in  his  innocency,  has  ceased  to  be 
needful,  or  obligatory,  since  the  apostacy  !  And 
yet  this  is  the  absurd  conclusion,  to  which  all  the 
arguments  against  the  perpetuity  of  the  Sabbath 
unavoidably  come. 

We  might,  as  we  draw  towards  the  close  of 
this  part  of  the  discussion,  avail  ourselves  of 


36 

several  arguments,  drawn  from  the  application 

of  ancient  prophecies  to  gospel  times. And 

we  might  dwell  upon  the  direction  of  Christ  to  his 
disciples,  "  Pray  ye,  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the 
winter,  neither  on  the  Sabbath  day  p"*  for  the 
event  to  which  he  alluded,  was  not  to  happen  till 
forty  years  afterwards ;  and  if  there  was  then  to 
be  a  Sabbath,  it  could  not  have  been  abolished 
with  the  ceremonial  law.  But  it  really  seems  to 
us,  that  more  than  enough  has  been  said  already. 
For,  1.  if  God  instituted  the  Sabbath  in  paradise, 
and  has  not  since  abrogated  it,  then  must  it  be  per- 
petual.  2.  If  it  is  a  constituent  part  of  the  moral 
law,  then  must  it  be  perpetual.  3.  If  not  one  jot 
or  one  tittle  can  ever  pass  from  the  law,  then  must 
the  Sabbath  be  perpetual.  4.  If  the  law  is  estab- 
lished through  faith,  then  must  the  Sabbath  be  per- 
petual. And,  5.  if  the  earthly  Sabbath  is  typical 
of  the  heavenly,  then  must  it  be  perpetual. 

QUESTION  III. 

What  day  of  the  week  was  originally  appoint- 
ed to  be  kept,  and  for  what  reason. 

As  this  is  not  a  controverted  question,  it  will 
detain  us  but  a  moment.  The  first  point  is  settled 
in  these  express  words :  "  And  on  the  seventh 
day  God  ended  his  work  which  he  had  made; 
and  he  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his 
work  which  he  had  made.  And  God  blessed  the 
seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it."  The  same  day  is 
gpecified  in  the  confirmation,  or  re-enactment  of 


87 

the  Sabbath  at  Mount  Sinai.  "  Six  days  shalt  thou 
labor,  and  do  all  thy  work;  but  the  seventh  is 
the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  Cxod."  Indeed,  where- 
ever  the  weekly  Sabbath  is  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  the  Seventh  day  of  the  week  is  intend- 
ed. Jesus  Christ,  himscif,  kept  the  same  day  du- 
ring* his  public  ministry;  and  the  Jews,  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  where  they  have  been  scattered, 
still  adhere  to  it  as  the  Sabbath. 

The  reason  for  the  original  sanctification  of  the 
seventh  day,  is  also  distinctly  specified.  "  And 
God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it,  be- 
cause that  in  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work," 
So,  in  the  fourth  commandment — "  For  in  six  days 
the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all 
that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day  ;  where- 
fore the  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day,  and  hal- 
lowed it."  Here  we  see,  that  the  seventh  dny 
was  set  apart,  rather  than  the  sixth,  the  first,  or 
any  other,  because  that  God  himself  rested  on  that 
day,  or  ceased  from  the  work  of  creation.  It  was 
to  keep  in  remembrance  that  stupendous  work, 
and  to  excite  mankind  to  celebrate  the  glorious 
attributes  of  wisdom,  power,  and  benevolence, 
which  were  displayed  in  its  progress  and  comple- 
tion, that  this  particular  appointment  was  made. 
And  what  other  day  could  havebeen  so  appropriate? 
Surely,  if  any  solemn  commemoration  at  all  was 
demanded,  or  was  proper,  it  was  suitable  it  should 
begin  on  the  very  day  when  the  "  morning  stars 
sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for 
joy ;"  and  that  the  same  day  of  the  week  should 
be  devoted  to  holy  rest,  meaitation,  and  praise,  till 


38 

some  greater  work  than  that  of  creation  should 
be  accompUshedj  and  demand  a  similar  comme- 
moration. 

QUESTION  IV. 

Has  the  day  been  changed^  since  the  /Sabbath 
was  instituted  ;  and,  if  so,  when,  and  for  what 
reasoni 

On  this  question  we  offer  the  following  prelimi- 
nary remarks : 

First.  Whatever  may  be  the  true  answer,  it  will 
not,  in  the  least,  affect  the  validity  of  the  arguments, 
which  have  been  already  adduced.  They  stand 
on  entirely  independent  ground ;  so  that  if  we 
should  fail  of  proving  that  the  day  has  been 
changed,  it  would  not  touch  the  other  great  ques- 
tion, in  regard  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Sabbath, 
which  has  been  argued  upon  its  own  merits.  If 
we  have  proved  that  the  institution  was  from  the 
beginning,  and  is  to  last  till  the  end  of  time,  nothing 
which  can  be  said  here,  will  invalidate  the  proof ; 
and  if  we  have  failed  there,  nothing  here  will 
help  it. 

Secondly.  Those  who  question  the  change  of 
the  Sabbath,  from  other  motives  than  a  conscien- 
tious persuasion  that  they  are  still  bound  to  keep 
the  seventh  day,  would  do  well  to  consider  what 
they  have  to  gain  by  proving,  that  the  day  has 
not  been  changed.  It  cannot  be  uncharitable 
10  suppose,  that  with  some  of  them,  this  is  a 
mere  evasive  expedient,  to  get  rid  of  the  Sab- 


39 

bath  altogether.  But  the  day  has  either  been 
changed,  or  it  has  not.  If  it  has  been  changed, 
they  are  bound  to  conform  to  that  change.  If  it 
has  not,  then  they  are  bound  to  keep  the  original, 
or  seventh  day.  So  that  whether  it  has  been 
changed,  or  not,  they  are  equally  bound  to  keep 
one  seventh  part  of  time  as  holy,  which  is  the 
very  conclusion  they  wish  to  avoid.  But  let  them 
be  consistent,  and  either  keep  the  seventh  day,  or 
come  out  at  once,  and  deny  that  any  day  is  obli- 
gatory. 

Thirdly.  The  fourth  commandment  is  so  ex- 
pressed, as  to  admit  of  a  change  in  the  day,  with- 
out at  all  affecting  the  sacred  institution  itself; 
and  this  phraseology,  we  doubt  not,  was  adopted 
by  the  divine  Law-giver,  with  special  reference  to 
such  a  change.  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day,  to 
keep  it  holy.  The  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath. 
In  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth ; — 
wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day,  and 
hallowed  it."  The  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath. 
It  was  so  at  that  time,  and  for  many  ages  after. 
But  it  is  not  said,  that  it  always  shall  be. 

Besides;  According  to  the  first  clause  of  the 
commandment,  it  is  the  Sabbath  day  which  we  are 
to  remember ;  and  so  at  the  close,  it  was  the  Sab- 
bath which  was  hallowed  and  blessed,  and  not 
the  seventh  day.  The  Sabbath,  then,  the  holy 
rest  itself,  is  one  thing  ;  the  day  on  which  we  are 
to  rest,  is  quite  another.  As  the  day  might  be 
changed,  without  any  prejudice  to  that  in  which 
the  Sabbath  essentially  consists,  we  are  left  at  full 
liberty  to  inquire,  yea,  it  is  our  duty  to  inquire, 


40 

whether  the  day  has  actually  been  changed  by 
competent  authority. 

Fourthly.  Though  it  would  require  an  express 
statute  to  abrogate  an  institution  so  prominent  as 
the  holy  Sabbath,  somethmg  short  of  this  may  be 
sufficient,  to  indicate  a  change  from  one  day  to 
another.  Thus,  if  it  can  be  shown,  that  similar 
reasons  now  exist  for  keeping  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  to  those  which  originally  existed  for  keep- 
ing the  seventh  ;  if  it  can  be  made  to  appear,  that 
such  a  change  was  foreseen,  and  distinctly  alluded 
to,  by  the  ancient  Jewish  prophets ;  if  it  can  be 
shown,  that  Christ  himself,  after  his  resurrection, 
gave  the  sanction  of  his  own  example  to  the 
change  ;  if  it  can  be  shown,  that  the  apostles  kept 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  could  not  have  been 
mistaken  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  change  ;  that 
the  churches  which  they  planted,  were  accustomed 
to  assemble  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  public 
worship  ;  that  God  early  consecrated  it  in  a  pecu- 
liar manner,  by  the  effusions  of  his  Spirit ;  that  the 
change  was  recognized  as  authoritative  by  the 
most  ancient  Christian  fathers;  and  that  the  first 
day  of  the  week  has  been  remarkably  distinguish- 
ed by  the  bestowment  of  spiritual  blessings,  down 
to  our  own  times;  if  these  things  can  be  proved, 
from  Scripture,  from  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  re- 
cords, and  from  undeniable  facts,  it  is  pre'sumed, 
the  propriety  of  Christian  usage  throughout  the 
world,  in  accordance  with  such  views,  and  such 
proofs,  will  not  be  disputed. 

But  can  such  evidence  be  adduced ;  or,  in  other 
words,  has  the  first  day  been  substituted  for  the 


41 

seventh,  by  divine  authority ;  and,  if  so,  when  and 
for  what  reason?  This  is  the  question  now  to  be 
tried.  That  the  day  has  been  changed  ;  that  the 
change  took  place  at  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  to 
commemorate  that  event,  and  the  completion  of 
the  work  of  redemption,  we  argue, 

In  the  first  place :  From  the  analogy  which  ex- 
ists between  that  stupendous  w^ork  and  the  origi- 
nal creation.  That  the  redemption  of  fallen  man 
was  a  greater  work  than  making  the  world,  must, 
we  think,  appear  evident  to  any  one  who  will  con- 
sider that  both  were  accomplished  by  Jesus  Christ; 
John  i.  3.  "  The  world  v/as  made  by  him,  and 
without  him  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was 
made."  Col.  i.  16.  "  By  him  were  all  things  cre- 
ated, that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  vi- 
sible and  invisible."  Heb.  i.  8,  10.  "  But  unto  the 
Son  he  saith,  thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and 
ever.  And  tlwDU,  Lord,  in  the  beginning,  hast  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  earth  ;  and  the  heavens  are 
the  work  of  thy  hands."  How  stupendous,  how 
glorious  were  these  works  !  And  yet  the  work  of 
redem.ption  excels  them  all  in  glory.  The  heavens 
and  the  earth  were  made  by  the  word  of  his  pow- 
er ;  the  souls  of  men  were  redeemed  by  the  shed- 
ding of  his  blood.  When  worlds  were  brought 
into  being,  "  He  spake  and  it  was  done ;"  but  when 
man  was  to  be  "  saved  from  going  down  to  the 
pit,"  and  "  created  in  righteousness  and  true  ho- 
liness," His  soul  was  in  an  agony ;  the  nails  were  in 
his  hands  and  his  feet ;  his  expiring  cry  went  up 
from  the  cross ;  and  universal  nature  shuddered  at 
the  spectacle. 


42 

Now,  if  the  seventh  day  vvas  originally  set  apart 
and  sanctified,  "because  that  in  it  God  rested 
from  all  his  ^vork,"  does  not  the  redemption  of  a 
great  mnltitiide  which  no  man  can  number,  which 
Was  finished  on  the  first  day,  demand  a  similar 
commemoration  ?  If  it  was  suitable  that  creative 
power  and  wisdom  should  be  celebrated  with 
thanksgiving  every  seventh  day,  from  the  creation 
to  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  can  it  be  less  so  that 
redeeming  love  and  mercy  should  be  celebrated  in 
a  simOar  manner,  every  first  day  of  the  week,  from 
the  resurrection  till  the  end  of  the  world '?  Surely, 
if  in  every  view,  the  work  of  redemption  has  the 
pre-eminence,  it  ought  to  be  kept  in  grateful  and 
everlasting  remembrance,  by  a  holy  appropriation 
of  the  day  on  which  it  was  consummated. 

Secondly ;  The  ancient  Jewish  prophets  evi- 
dently saw  the  day  of  Christ's  final  triumph,  and 
were  glad.  Is.  xi.  10.  "  And  in  that  day  there 
shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse,  which  shall  stand  for  an 
ensign  of  the  people  ;  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek ; 
and  his  rest  shall  be  glorious."  May  there  not  be 
an  allusion  here  to  the  Gospel  Sabbath,  as  well  as 
to  the  rest  and  prosperity  of  the  church  in  the  lat- 
ter day? — "His  rest  shall  be  glorious;"  that  is, 
the  day  on  which  Christ  rested  from  all  his  work, 
as  God  did  from  his.  Isa»  Ixvi.  22,  23.  "  For  as  the 
new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  which  I  will  make 
shall  remain  before  me,  saith  the  Lord,  so  shall 
your  seed  and  your  name  remain.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  from  cme  new  moon  to  another, 
and  from  one  Sabbath  to  another,  shall  all  flesh 
come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  the  Lord."  This 


4S 

prophecy,  beyond  all  question,  refers  to  the  pros* 
peroiis  state  of  the  church,  under  the  millennial 
reign  of  Messiah,  the  most  glorious  period  of  that 
new  dispensation,  which  seems  to  be  shadowed 
forth,  under  the  emblem  of  new  heavens  and  a 
new  earth.  The  church  is  then  to  have  her  mi- 
nisters, solemnities,  sabbaths,  and  holy  ordinances, 
as  she  had  under  the  Levitical  priesthood  ;  and  as 
every  service  will  then  refer  directly  to  Christ, 
may  we  not  infer  that  the  church  will  keep  her 
sabbaths  on  that  day  which  commemiorates  his 
resurrection  from  th'e  dead.  But  however  this 
may  be,  one  thing  is  clear; — the  Sabbath  will  then 
be  observed  by  the  people  of  God  ;  and  of  course 
it  was  not  abolished  with  the  ceremonial  law,  but 
belongs  to  the  new  dispensation,  as  certainly  as  it 
did  to  the  old.* 
A  more  explicit  prediction  than  any  other,  per- 

♦  Note  by  the  Committee : — ^President  Humphrey  has 
well  intimated,  that  the  new  creation  or  work  of  redemp- 
tion was  a  greater  and  more  g-lorious  work  than  the  first 
creation.  This  appears  to  be  fully  confirmed  by  the  figu- 
rative representation  of  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth 
that  was  created,  as  predicted  by  Isaiah  Ixv.  17  and  18. 
''  For  behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  and 
the  former  shall  not  be  remembered  nor  come  into  mind. 
But  be  ye  g-lad  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  that  I  create  ;  for 
behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing-,  and  her  people  a 
joy."  It  is  more  than  intimated,  that  the  celebration  of 
the  first  creation,  the  first  heavens  and  the  first  earth,  shall 
cease,  and  be  no  longer  commemorated,  because  the  new 
creation  so  far  exceeds  in  glory,  that  it  shall  become  a 
theme  of  celebration  and  everlasting- joy  :  "This  is  the  day 
the  Lord  has  niade ;  we  will  be  g-lad  and  rejoice  in  it." 


44 

haps,  touching  the  change  of  the  Sabbath,  is  con- 
tained in  the  cxviii  Ps.  "  The  stone  which  the 
builders  refused,  is  become  the  headstone  of  the 
corner.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  mar- 
vellous in  our  eyes.  This  is  the  day  which  the 
Lord  hath  made  ;  we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad 
in  it"  This  passage  is  quoted  and  applied  to 
Christ,  no  less  than  six  times,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. That  it  refers  to  his  resurrection  and 
exaltation  no  one  can  doubt.  On  what  day  then 
did  he  rise  from  the  dead  ?  On  the  first  day  of  the 
week.  Does  the  psalmist  refer  to  the  very  day  of 
his  triumph,  or  to  some  other  day?  To  that  glori- 
ous day  most  certainly.  And  what  does  he  say 
of  it  ?  "  This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath 
made ;  we  ^vill  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it."  Here, 
then,  is  a  prediction  that  the  day  on  which  the 
Redeemer  rose  from  the  dead,  should  be  conse- 
crated— should  be  a  day  of  joy  and  gladness  in 
the  church ;  a  day  of  holy  commemoration,  as  it 
hath  been  ever  since,  and  we  doubt  not  will  be  till 
the  second  coming  of  Christ.  And  this  is  the 
Christian  Sabbath. 

Thirdly ;  Christ  has  left  us  his  own  example, 
in  favour  of  the  change  for  which  we  contend. 
Not  a  syllable  is  said,  subsequently  to  his  resur- 
rection, about  his  keeping  the  Jewish '  Sabbath. 
But  he  appeared  to  his  disciples  repeatedly,  on  the 
very  day  that  he  rose,  and  he  met  them  again  the 
njext  first  day  of  the  week,  when  they  were  assem- 
bled for  worship,  and  said,  "'  Peace  be  unto  youJ'^ 
Now,  why  was  this  fact  recorded,  if  it  was  not 
that  Christ  intended  to  bequeath  to  the  Church 


45 

his  own  example  for  her  imitation  ?  Surely,  if  as 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath  day,  he  had  meant  to  per- 
petuate the  seventh,  instead  of  the  first,  he  would 
not  have  neglected  tlie  former,  and  put  a  special 
honor  upon  the  latter. 

Fourthly ;  The  apostles,  themselves,  kept  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  and  the  churches  which 
they  planted  were  accustomed  to  assemble  on 
that  day  for  public  worship.  Thus,  in  one  of  his 
apostolic  vjsits,  Paul  "  came  to  Troas,  where  he 
abode  seven  days.  And,  upon  the  first  day  of  the 
weeJi',  when  tlie  disciples  came  together  to  break 
bread,  he  preached  unto  tliem,  ready  to  depart  on 
the  morrow."  To  the  church  of  Corinth,  he  gives 
this  charge:  "As  I  have  given  order  to  the 
churches  of  Galatia,  so  do  ye.  Upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him 
in  store,  as  God  hath  prospered  him,  that  there  be 
iio  gathering  when  I  come."  This  plainly  shows, 
that  the  churches  met  regularly  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  and  that  in  this  they  had  the  entire 
sanction  of  their  spiritual  guides  and  teachers. 
But  who  were  these  teachers  ?  Men  whom  Christ 
had  chosen  for  the  express  purpose  of  establishing 
the  Gospel  Church  on  a  right  foundation  ;  and 
who,  in  this  most  important  matter,  acted  under 
the  unerring  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
promise  of  the  Saviour,  before  he  left  them, 
was,  "  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give 
you  another  Comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with 
you  for  ever.  And  the  Comforter,  which  is  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my 
name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  shall 


46 

bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever 
I  have  said  unto  you." 

Now  can  any  one  believe,  that  these  holy  and 
inspired  men  acted  without  authority;  yea,  that 
they  acted  against  the  express  authority  of  God, 
in  reference  to  the  Sabbath  ?  But  they  observed 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  this  became  the  es- 
tablished usage  of  all  the  primitive  churches. 
The  inference  is  irresistible.  They  acted  by  di- 
vine authority;  and  their  example  is  a  full  and 
satisfactory  warrant  for  keeping  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  instead  of  the  seventh. 

Fifthly;  God  early  consecrated  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  by  a  most  remarkable  outpouring  of  his 
Spirit.  We  allude  to  the  day  of  Pentecost,  which 
was  the  fiftieth  day  after  the  resurrection  ;  and,  of 
course,  the  Jirst  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disci- 
ples "  were  all,  with  one  accOrd,  in  one  place ;" 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  them ;  and, 
the  same  day,  three  thousand  were  "  added  to 
the  Lord."  What  a  glorious  consecration  of  the 
day,  which  was  thenceforward  to  be  devoted  to 
religious  instruction  and  worship !  How  honor- 
able to  the  divine  Saviour,  who,  on  that  day,  seven 
weeks  before,  rose  from  the  dead,  and  finished 
the  work  of  redemption  !  How  rich  in  promise 
to  the  churches  and  their  ministers,  who  should 
afterward,  on  the  same  day  of  the  week,  be,  with 
one  accord,  in  one  place,  and  devoutly  engaged  in 
appropriate  religious  exercises ! 

Sixthly  ;  We  derive  a  strong  argument  in  favor 
of  the  change  of  the  Sabbath,  from  a  comparison 
of  the  three  following  passages  of  Scripture :— 


47 

Mat.  xii.  8.  ''  For  the  son  of  man  is  Lord  even  of 
the  Sabbath  day.''''  1  Cor.  xi.  20.  "  When  we  come 
together,  therefore,  into  one  place,  this  is  not  to 
eat  the  Lord^s  supper."  Rev.  i.  10.  "  I  was  in  the 
Spirit  on  the  hordes  day."  Now  if  Christ  was 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath ;  if  the  Sabbath  was  his  day ; 
and  if  the  Lord's  day  was  the  first  day  of  the 
week ;  then  is  the  first  day  of  the  week  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath.  Again  j  if  the  sacramental  supper 
is  called  the  Lord's  supper,  because  he  instituted 
it,  or  because  it  was  appointed  to  commemorate 
his  sufferings  and  death,  then,  doubtless,  the  first 
day  of  the  week  is  called  the  Lord's  day,  because 
he  instituted  it,  or  because  it  was  appointed  to 
commemorate  his  resurrection. 

Seventhly ;  That  the  Lord's  day,  the  day  of  his 
resurrection,  was  early  regarded  as  holy  time, 
might  be  proved  by  innumerable  quotations  from 
the  writings  of  the  apostolic  fathers,  and  others 
who  succeeded  them  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
Christian  church. 

Thus,  Ignatius,  who  survived  the  apostle  John 
but  eight  or  ten  years,  says,  "  Let  every  one  that 
loves  Christ,  keep  holy  the  Lord's  day ;  the  queen 
of  days ;  the  resurrection  day ;  the  highest  of  all 
days." 

Justin  Martyr. — "  On  the  day  commonly  called 
Sunday,  (by  the  brethren,)  all  meet  together  in 
the  city  and  country  for  divine  worship." 

"  No  sooner,"  says  Dr.  Cave,  "  was  Constan- 
tine  come  over  to  the  church,  but  his  principal 
care  was  about  the  Lord's  day ;  he  commanded  it 
to  be  solemnly  observed,  and  that  by  all  persons 


48 

whatsoever ;  he  made  it  a  day  of  rest,  that  men 
might  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  worship  God,  and 
be  better  instructed  in  the  Christian  faith." 

Theophihis,  Bishop  of  Antioch. — "  Both  cus- 
tom and  reason  challenge  from  us,  that  we  should 
honor  the  Lord's  day,  seeing  on  that  day  it  was, 
that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  completed  his  resur- 
rection from  the  dead." 

Let  one  more  quotation  suffice.  The  Synod 'of 
Laodicea  adopted  this  canon:  "that  Christians 
should  not  Judaize^  and  rest  from  all  labor  on  the 
Sabbath,  (i.  e.  the  seventh  day,)  but  follow  their 
ordinary  work:  and  should  not  entertain  such 
thoughts  of  it,  but  that  still  they  should  prefer  the 
Lord's  day,  and  on  that  day,  rest  as  Christians." 

Lastly ;  God  has  most  signally  annexed  his 
blessing  to  the  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the 
week  as  the  Christian  Sabbath.  This  argument 
is  so  forcibly  presented  by  Dr.  Dwight,  that  we 
shall  make  no  apology  for  copying  the  substance 
of  it  into  our  pages. 

"  If  this  day  be  not  divinely  instituted,  then  God 
has  suffered  his  church  to  disuse  and  annihilate 
his  own  institution,  (the  seventh  day  Sabbath,) 
and  substituted  one  of  mere  human  device  in  its 
stead.  Nor  is  this  all ;  he  has  annexed  the  blessing 
which  he  originally  united  to  the  Sabbath  insti- 
tuted by  himself,  to  that  which  was  the  means  of 
destroying  it,  and  which  was  established  by  hu- 
man authority  merely.  Can  any  man  believe, 
that  he  would  thus  forsake  his  own  institution,  an 
institution  on  which  have  depended  in  all  lands, 
and  ages,  the  observation,  influence,  and  existence 


49 

of  his  holy  law  ?  Can  any  man  believe,  that  he 
who  so  dreadfully  punished  Nadab  and  Abihu,  for 
forsaking  his  own  institution  in  a  case  of  far  in- 
ferior magnitude,  and  setting  up  one  of  their  own 
in.  its  stead,  would  not  only  not  punish^  hut 
abundantly  and  unceasingly  bless  the  Christian 
church,  while  perpetrating  and  persisting  in  ini- 
quity of  exactly  the  same  nature,  and  far  greater 
degree  ?  Let  it  be  remembered,  that  this  great  in- 
novation, if  it  be  an  innovation,  was  begun  by  the 
apostles,  the  chosen  and  inspired  followers  of 
Chri!||,  and  the  erectors  of  his  kingdom  in  the 
world.  If  they  sinned,  they  sinned  wilfully,  and 
in  defiance  of  their  inspirations.  With  them^ 
however,  the  blessing  began  to  be  annexed  to  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  in  a  most  wonderful  and 
glorious  manner.  From  them,  it  has  been  unin- 
terruptedly continued  to  the  present  time.  To  this 
day,  under  God,  mankind  are  indebted  for  all  the 
religion  which  has  since  been  in  the  world. 

"  If  then  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  not  a  divine 
institution,  God  has  made  a  device  of  man  a  more 
powerful  support  to  his  spiritual  kingdom,  than 
most,  perhaps  than  all  others.  His  blessing  has 
been  too  evident,  to  admit  of  a  doubt — too  great 
and  too  wonderful  to  be  passed  over  in  silence. 
On  this  day,  the  perfections  of  God,  manifested  in 
creation  and  redemption,  have  more  than  on  all 
others,  been  solemnly,  gratefully,  and  joyfully  re- 
membered and  celebrated.  On  this  day,  millions 
of  the  human  race  have  been  born  unto  God. 
From  the  word  and  ordinances  of  God,  from  the 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  from  the  presence  of 


50 

Christ  in  his  churcli,  Christians  have  derived,  on 
this  day,  more  than  all  others,  the  most  delightful 
views  of  the  divine  character,  clear  apprehensions 
of  their  own  duty,  lively  devotion  to  the  service 
of  God,  strength  to  overcome  temptations,  and 
glorious  anticipations  of  immortality.  Take  this 
day  from  tlie  calendar  of  the  Christian,  and  all 
that  remains  will  be  cloudy  and  cheerless.  Reli- 
gion will  instantly  decay.  Ignorance,  error,  and 
/  vice,  will  immediately  triumph  ;  the  sense  of  duty 
vanish ;  morals  fade  away ;  the  acknowledgment 
and  even  the  remembrance  of  God  be  far  removed 
from  mankind ;  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  cease 
to  sound ;  and  the  communication  between  earth 
and  heaven  be  cut  off  for  ever."* 

QUESTION  V. 

How  is  the  Sabbath  to  be  kept,  or  sanctified  ? 

SECTION    I. 

If  God  has  required  us  to  keep  the  Sabbath,  he 
has  doubtless  given  us  such  directions  in  regard 
to  the  manner  of  keeping  it,  that  a  sincere  desire 
to  know  and  do  our  duty,  will  make  the  path  en- 
tirely plain  before  us.  The  proper  place  to  look 
for  these  directions,  is  in  the  statute  itself;  and 
here  they  are  very  explicitly  given.  What  duties 
then  does  it  enjoin?  Whiit  thoughts,  words,  jind 
japtions  does  it  forbid  ?  "  Remember  the  Sabb^tli 

*  System  of  Theology,  Ser.  106, 


51 

day  to  keep  it  holy."  This  is  the  first  section. 
Now,  to  remember  the  Sabbath  day,  is  to  antici- 
pate its  approach — to  think  of  it  often,  especially 
towards  the  close  of  the  week,  and  so  to  order  our 
secular  affairs,  that  they  may  not  intrench  upon 
the  beginning  of  holy  time.  How  many,  alas,  for" 
get  the  Sabbath,  and  permit  themselves  to  be  over- 
taken by  it,  on  the  road,  in  the  field,  in  the  shop^ 
and  in  the  counting-house.  How  many  reme7?i- 
her  it,  not  to  keep  it  holy,  but  to  profane  it — "  by 
doing  their  own  work,  thinking  their  own  thoughts, 
and  finding  their  own  pleasures  !" 

When  we  inquire  how  the  Sabbath  is  to  be  kept 
or  sanctified,  every  thing  depends  upon  the  import 
of  the  word  holy.  In  turning  over  the  sacred  pages, 
it  will  be  found,  that  a  great  many  things  are  de- 
nominated holy,  on  account  of  their  being  conse- 
crated to  the  service  of  God,  or  set  apart  exclu- 
sively for  religious  purposes.  Thus,  to  give  a  few 
examples:  the  oil  with  which  the  tabernacle  and 
its  furniture  were  anointed  in  the  wilderness,  was 
Tioly  oil.  Ex.  xxx.  25.  The  crown  worn  by  the 
high-priest  when  he  officiated,  was  a  holy  crown. 
Ex.  xxix.  6.  One  tenth  part  of  the  annual  pro* 
duce  of  Canaan  was  holy.  Lev.  xxvii.  30.  The 
ark  was  a  holy  depository.  2  Chron.  xxxv.  3. 
The  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  .a  holy  building,  and 
so  were  the  vessels  belonging  to  it  holy.  1  Chron. 
xxii.  19.  and  xxxix.  3.  Now  it  is  obvious,  that  the 
holiness  of  the  things  above  mentioned,  consisted 
in  their  being  sanctified,  or  set  apart  from  com- 
mon uses,  and  employed  exclusively  in  the  service 
of  God.    Thus  we  elsewhere  read,  I  will  sanctify 


52 

the  temple  and  the  altar.  All  the  firstling  males 
thou  shalt  sanctify.  I  have  chosen  and  sanctified 
this  house  in  the  temple.  All  the  vessels  have  we 
prepared  and  sanctified.  The  tabernacle,  then, 
was  holy.,  because  it  v/as  dedicated  solely  to  the 
worship  of  the  one  living  and  true  God.  The 
tithes  were  ZioZy,  because  they  were  to  be  appro- 
priated to  the  support  of  religion,  and  for  no  other 
use.  The  temple  was  holy^  because  it  was  dedi- 
cated exclusively  to  the  honor  and  worship  of  Je- 
hovah. The  vessels  of  the  temple  Avere  holy.,  be- 
cause they  were  devoted  to  religious  uses,  and 
might  on  no  account  be  put  to  any  other  use.  The 
first  fruits  were  holy.,  for  the  same  reason ;  and 
accordingly  the  people  were  expressly  forbidden 
to  sell  them. 

Now  it  is  evidently  in  the  same  sense,  and  for 
the  same  reason,  that  tlie  Sabbath  is  called  holy. 
It  is  because  God  himself  sanctified  it,  or  set  it 
apart,  for  a  day  of  holy  rest  and  religious  worship. 
As,  therefore,  it  would  have  been  a  profanation  of 
the  vessels  of  the  temple  to  have  put  them  to  any 
common  use,  so  it  is  a  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 
to  spend  any  part  of  it  in  those  worldly  employ- 
ments and  recreations,  which  are  lawful  on  other 
days.  If  we  would  keep  the  Sabbath  holy,  then, 
we  must  set  it  apart  as  a  day  of  holy  rest — must 
spend  it  in  the  public  and  private  exercises  of  God's 
worship  ;  not  contenting  ourselves  with  the  forms 
of  religion ;  not  wasting  any  part  of  the  sacred  day 
in  sloth ;  but  employing  the  whole  of  it  in  those 
duties  which,  through  a  divine  blessing,  prepare 
the  soul  for  heaven.     It  seems  scarcely  necessary 


53 

to  add,  that  the  appropriate  duties  of  holy  lime  are 
religious  meditation^  'prayer^  self-examination^ 
reading  the  Scriptures  any  other  religious 
books,  attending  public  worship,  pioiis  conver- 
sation, and  the  religious  instruction  of  chil- 
dren. On  each  of  these  interesting  topics  we 
should  be  glad  to  enlarge,  but  our  limits  will  not 
permit.  It  follows  as  a  necessary  consequence, 
from  the  preceding  observations,  that  no  part  of 
the  Sabbath  may  be  devoted  to  common  secular 
employments  or  recreations.  For  if  the  whole 
day  must  be  spent  in  religious  duties,  what  por- 
tion of  it  is,  or  can  be,  left  for  the  indulgence  of 
worldly  thoughts,  or  for  any  of  the  ordinary  la- 
bors and  relaxations  of  human  life  ?  This  single 
inference,  which  it  appears  to  us,  can  neither  be 
fairly  evaded  nor  resisted,  overthrows,  at  once,  most 
of  the  pretences  by  which  thousands  strive  to  jus- 
tify themselves,  in  habitual  encroachments  upon 
those  sacred  hours  which  God  emphatically  calls 
his  own. 

Since,  however,  the  strict  observance  of  the 
Lord's  day  is  of  vital  importance  to  religion,  and 
since  so  many  are  employed,  either  directly  or  in- 
directly, in  abolishing  the  sacred  institution,  it 
seems  necessary  to  subjoin  a  few  additional  re- 
marks. The  prohibitions  of  the  Sabbatical  law 
are  thus  stated  in  a  concise  and  admirable  com- 
pend,  which  is  familiar  to  many  of  our  readers. 
"  The  fourth  commandment  forbiddeth  the  omis- 
sion or  careless  performance  of  the  duties  re- 
quired, and  the  profaning  the  day  by  idleness,  or 
doing  that  which  is  in  itself  sinful,  or  by  unneces- 

5* 


54 

sary  thoughts,  words,  or  works,  about  worldly  em- 
ployments or  recreations."  The  prohibition  of 
"  unnecessary  thoughts,  words,  or  works,"  &c.  is 
the  clause  which  now  claims  our  particular  atten- 
tion. The  correctness  of  this  exposition,  must 
undoubtedly  be  tested  by  an  appeal  to  the  law 
itself,  and  to  such  explanations  of  this  law  as  may 
be  found  elsewhere  in  the  Scriptures. 

The  prohibitory  clause  of  the  law,  as  every 
child  ought  to  know,  is  in  these  words.  But  the 
seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  ; 
in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  ivork,  thou,  nor  thy 
son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man  servant,  nor  thy 
maid  servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  the  stranger 
that  is  within  thy  gates.  God  has  said  in  the 
preceding  clause,  six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and 
do  all  thy  work.  Men  are  here  required  to  do, 
not  the  greatest  part,  but  all  their  work  in  six 
days.  There  is  no  proviso  to  accommodate  the 
idle,  the  busy,  or  the  feeble.  Every  one  must  ad- 
mit, that  the  form  of  expression  amounts  to  a  po- 
sitive prohibition ;  for  who  that  must  do  all  his 
work  in  six  days,  can  be  allowed  to  labor  on  the 
seventh  ?  But  God  saw  fit  to  make  the  prohibition 
doubly  strong,  by  adding.  In  it  thou  shalt  not  do 
ANY  work.  Surely  no  man  after  reading  this  could 
think  of  attending  to  secular  affairs  on  tjie  Sab- 
bath, till  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  set  the  au- 
thority of  the  Most  High  at  defiance.  But  a  de- 
praved heart,  always  fertile  in  evasions,  might 
have  suggested,  that  children,  servants,  and  cattle, 
are  not  included,  had  not  the  labor  of  sons  and 


55 

daughters,  of  servants,  and  cattle,  and  strangers, 
been  strictly  forbidden. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  neither  heads  of  families, 
nor  others  who  act  for  themselves,  may  do  any 
work  upon  the  Lord's  day.  We  may,  and  ought, 
to  be  diligent  in  our  respective  callings.  Idleness 
is  a  great  sin  ;  but  we  may  not  take  God's 
time  for  doing  our  work.  He  has  given  us  six 
days  out  of  seven,  Avhich,  when  rightly  used,  are 
quite  sufficient  for  our  secular  employments.  We 
may  not  encroach  upon  the  Sabbath.  It  is  holy 
time.  If  we  have  been  idle  or  dilatory,  we  must 
bear  the  loss.  If  we  have  undertaken  more  than 
we  can  do  in  one  week,  we  must  defer  a  part  to 
the  next.  If  we  have  been  sick,  or  providentially 
called  away  from  business,  we  must  never  attempt 
to  redeem  the  time,  by  breaking  God's  lavi'',  but 
trust  in  his  bounty  for  the  supply  of  our  wants. 

Secondly  ;  We  may  neither  require,  not  permit 
our  children  or  servants  to  labor  on  the  Lord's 
day.  We  may  not  require  it.  If  they  have  been 
faithful  six  days,  it  is  cruelty  to  deprive  them  of 
rest  and  religious  privileges  on  the  seventh.  And 
whether  they  have  been  faithful  or  not,  we  have 
no  right  to  command  them  to  violate  the  Sabbath. 
In  saying,  they  shall  not  do  any  work,  God 
has  precluded  the  exercise  of  that  authority, 
which  he  permits  and  requires  us  to  exercise  on 
other  days.  The  parent  or  master,  who  commands 
what  God  forbids,  does  it  at  his  peril.  As  we 
may  not  require,  so  neither  may  we  permit  our 
children  and  domestics  to  work  on  the  Sabbath. 
God  has  made  us,  in  this  particular,  answerable 


56 

for  their  conduct.  Let  us  not  forget  the  woes 
which  were  denounced  and  executed  upon  the 
house  of  Eh,  because  his  sons  "  made  themselves 
vile,  and  he  restrained  them  not."  As  parents, 
guardians,  or  masters,  we  are  placed  in  God's 
stead ;  and  are  as  much  bound  to  restrain  oui 
children  from  what  the  divine  la.\Y  forbids,  as  to 
enforce  their  obedience  to  what  it  requires. 

We  cannot  dismiss  this  topic,  without  remind 
ing  unfaithful  parents,  if  this  page  should  evei 
meet  the  eyes  of  such,  what  a  fearful  account  they 
will  have  to  render  at  the  last  day.  Let  those 
especially,  who  profane  the  Sabbath  themselves — 
who  go  with  their  sons  into  the  field  of  labour,  or 
who  send  them  out  alone — remember,  that  God 
will  vindicate  the  honor  of  his  sacred  institutions, 
by  pouring  indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and 
anguish,  upon  such  daring  transgressors. 

Again ;  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  goes  further. 
It  is  merciful  to  beasts,  as  well  as  men.  It  stands 
a  strong  and  sacred  barrier,  for  the  protection  of 
those  animals,  which  God  has,  under  important 
limitations,  subjected  to  our  authority.  We  have 
an  undoubted  right  to  employ  our  horses  and 
cattle  in  moderate  labour,  on  week  days;  but 
when  the  Sabbath  comes,  this  right  is  suspended. 
The  command  is  positive,  that  they  shall  not  do 
any  work.  We  may  neither  subject  them  to 
labor  in  our  own  business,  nor  let  them  out  to 
^others.  The  latter  mode  of  employing  them,  is 
even  worse  than  the  former;  because  in  nine 
instances  out  of  ten,  men  will  drive  a  hired  horse 
harder  than  they  would  one  of  their  own.    How 


57 

then  will  those  impious  contemners  of  God's  law, 
who  keep  horses  and  carriages,  and  let  them  more 
on  the  Lord's  day  than  any  other,  answer  for  their 
conduct?  What  a  tremendous  responsibility  are  the 
proprietors  of  stages  incurring,  throughout  the 
United  States ;  and  what  an  amazing  aggregate  of 
guilt  is  contracted  by  thousands  of  others,  who 
compel  their  teams  to  labor  on  the  Sabbath  ! 

Again ;  the  prohibitory  clause  of  the  law  now 
under  consideration,  includes  strangers,  as  well 
as  our  own  families.  Tlie  phrase,  within  thy 
gates,  evidently  means,  iDithin  the  limits  of  thy 
control,  or  rightful  avthority.  Thus,  when  a 
stranger  entered  the  house  of  an  Israelite,  he  was, 
during  his  stay,  v/ithin  the  owner's  gates,  and 
subject  to  the  rules  of  his  family.  Thus,  also, 
every  stranger  who  might  happen  to  be  found, 
on  the  Sabbath,  any  where  within  the  territo- 
rial limits  of  Israel,  was  within  their  gates,  and 
therefore  might  not  do  any  work.  In  like  man- 
ner, all  strangers  passing  through  the  places 
where  we  dwell,  or  coming  to  reside  amongst  us, 
are  within  our  gates,  as  well  as  those  whom  we 
receive  into  our  houses. 

In  this  view,  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  imposes 
certain  duties,  both  on  magistrates  and  heads  of 
families.  First,  on  magistrates.  We  are  not 
ignorant,  that  faithful  public  officers  are  often 
censured  for  presuming  to  interfere  with  men, 
who,  it  is  said,  are  going  peaceably  about  their 
own  business.  But  this  censure,  let  it  be  remem- 
bered, falls  upon  the  Divine  Lawgiver  himself. 
He  has  said,  that  the  stranger,  as  well  as  the  citi- 


zen,  shall  not  do  any  ivork.  The  stranger,  there^ 
fore,  not  only  may^  but,  according  to  the  divine 
law,  mus^t  be  required  to  rest. 

Secondly ;  as  heads  of  families,  we  are  in  no 
small  degree  made  answerable  for  the  conduct  of 
all  who  may  spend  the  Sabbath  within  our  gates. 
The  same  authority,  which  enjoins  upon  us  the 
oversight  and  control  of  our  children  and  domes- 
tics, make  us,  for  the  time  being,  keepers  of  all 
other  persons  who  may  choose  to  abide  under 
our  roofs.  No  relaxation,  in  favor  of  the  friend, 
the  boarder,  or  the  passing  stranger,  is  admissible. 
Should  any  be  so  lost  to  decorum,  as  well  as  to  the 
fear  of  God,  as  to  insist  on  doing  their  own  work, 
and  finding  their  own  pleasures  on  the  Sabbath, 
they  must  be  dismissed.  Not  even  the  nearest 
relation  may  be  permitted  to  remain  with  us,  and 
violate  the  sacred  rest.  We  must  obey  God,  how- 
ever much  it  may  displease  men.  We  must  vin- 
dicate the  honor  of  our  Master,  at  least  in  our 
own  houses.  If  we  love  father  or  mother  more 
than  Christ,  we  cannot  be  his  disciples. 

SECTION    II. 

Such  is  the  plain  letter  of  the  law.  And  do 
the  sacred  writers  elsewhere  give  it  a  more  liberal 
construction  than  the  face  of  the  statute  itself 
seems  to  authorize  ?  If  not,  then  wo  be  to  him, 
who  shall  attempt  to  explain  it  away,  or  to  weaken 
its  hold  upon  the  consciences  of  men.  If  the 
Lawgiver  has  himself  seen  fit  to  specify  excep- 
tions and  limitations,  either  in  the  Old  Testament 


69 

or  the  New,  then  the  law  must  be  construed  ac- 
cordingly. Whatever  the  Scriptures  authorize, 
upon  a  full  and  fair  investigation  and  comparison, 
Ave  may  do  ;  but  we  may  not  frame  exceptions  for 
ourselves.  If  we  might  make  o?ie,  to  suit  our 
convenience,  by  the  same  rule,  or  rather  without 
any  rule  at  all,  we  might  make  one  hundred — we 
might  explain  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  entirely 
away. 

To  the  law  and  the  testimony^  then,  let  us  ap- 
peal J  solemnly  remembering,  that  we  may  not  go 
beyond  the  word  of  the  Lord,  to  do  less  or  more. 

Beginning  with  the  Old  Testament  we  should 
be  glad  could  our  limits  permit,  to  quote  every 
passage  which  has  any  bearing  upon  the  question  j 
but  if  we  can  present  the  tenor  and  spirit  of  the 
law,  in  two  or  three  prominent  passages,  we  trust 
every  candid  mind  will  be  satisfied.  Turning  to 
the  sixteenth  of  Exodus,  we  find  that  the  Israelites, 
of  their  own  accord,  gathered  twice  as  much 
mani)a  on  the  sixth  day,  as  they  had  on  any  pre- 
ceding day.  Moses  approved  of  this  step,  and 
directed  the  people  to  lay  by  a  part  of  the  double 
allowance  for  the  Sabbath,  when  none  should 
be  found  in  the  field.  Some,  however,  went  out  as 
at  other  times.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
How  long  refuse  ye  to  keep  my  commandments, 
and  my  laws  7  See,  for  that  the  Lord  hath 
given  you  the  Sabbath,  therefore  he  giveth  you 
on  the  sixth  day  the  bread  of  two  days  ;  abide 
ye  every  man  in  his  place,  let  no  man  go  out  of 
his  place  on  the  seventh  day.  We  find  no  license 
bgre,  for  any  kind  of  labor.    The  Israelites  might 


60 

not  so  much  as  go  out,  to  gather  their  daily  portion 
of  food.  It  must  be  brought  in  the  preceding  day. 

We  need  only  refer,  as  we  proceed,  to  Ex.  xxxi. 
12—18.  and  also  to  xxxiv.  25.  as  neither  of  these 
passages  at  all  abates  the  strictness  of  the  sacred 
institution,  as  explained  in  the  decalogue.  The 
same  remark  will  apply  to  Nehemiah  xiii.  15 — 23. 
The  reader  is  requested  to  examine  these  referen- 
ces at  his  leisure.  Exactly  in  the  spirit  of  the 
fourth  commandment,  is  the  following  promise  to 
Israel  by  the  mouth  of  Isaiah.  "If  thou  turn 
away  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  from  doing  thy 
pleasure  on  my  holy  day,  and  call  the  Sabbath  a 
delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honorable ;  and 
shalt  honor  him,  not  doing  thine  own  M^ays,  nor 
finding  thine  own  pleasures,  nor  speaking  thine 
own  words ;  then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the 
Lord :  and  I  Avill  cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high 
places  of  the  earth ;  and  feed  thee  with  the  heri- 
tage of  Jacob  thy  father :  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  it."  Surely  there  is  nothing  here,  to 
justify  a  more  liberal  construction  of  the  law  than 
that  which  we  have  given  above,  and  this  we  take 
to  be  the  language  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets 
throughout. 

Let  us  then  turn  to  the  New  Testament.  In 
what  light  did  the  great  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  re- 
gard the  sacred  institution?  This  will  appear,  from 
the  following  incidents  in  the  history  of  his  life. 
Going  into  a  synagogue,  as  his  custom  was,  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  he  found  there  a  woman,  who  had 
been  grievously  afflicted  with  disease  for  the  space 
of  eighteen  years,  and  he  healed  her.    Wherefore 


61 

the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  thus  indignantly  rebuk- 
ed the  people : —  There  are  six  days  in  which  men 
ought  to  work :  in  thetn,  therefore,  come  and  he 
healed^  and  not  on  the  Sabbath  day.  Our  Lord 
knowing  that  this  rebuke  was  intended  for  him, 
answered,  Thou  hypocrite,  doth  not  each  one  of 
you  on  the  Sabbath  day,  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass 
from  the  stall,  and  lead  him  away  to  icatering  ; 
and  ought  not  this  woman,  being  a  daughter  of 
Abraham,  whom  Satan  hath  bound,  lo,  these 
eighteen  years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the 
Sabbath  day? — And  all  his  adversaries  were 
ashamed. 

On  another  occasion,  we  read  that  Jesus  went 
on  the  Sabbath  day  through  the  corn,  and  his 
disciples  were  an  hungered,  and  began  to  pluck 
the  ears  of  corn  and  to  eat.  Some  of  the  Pha- 
risees happening  to  be  present,  charged  them  with 
breaking  the  Sabbath  ;  but  our  Lord  fully  justifies 
his  disciples,  on  the  ground  of  present  neces- 
sity. Probably  their  little  store  of  provisions  was 
exhausted,  and  they  had  no  other  means  of  allay- 
ing the  cravings  of  hunger.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, they  might  lawfully  do,  what  would  have 
been  unlawful,  had  they  not  been  in  distress. 
"  If  ye  had  known  what  this  meaneth,  I  will  have 
MERCY,  and  not  sacrifice  ye  would  not  have 
condemned  the  guiltless?'^  The  same  day,  our 
Lord  found  in  the  synagogue,  a  man  whose  hand 
was  withered.  The  Jews,  in  their  usual  captious 
style,  asked  him.  Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sab- 
bath day  %  And  he  said  unto  them,  what  man 
shall  there  be  among  you^  that  shall  have  one 

6 


62 

sheepj  and  if  it  fall  into  a  pit  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on  it,  and  lift  it  out  ? 
How  much,  then,  is  a  man  better  than  a  sheep  7 
Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  well  on  the  Sab- 
bath days. 

These  quotations,  it  is  believed,  contain  all  the 
expositions,  which  our  Lord  thought  proper  to 
give  of  the  fourth  commandment ;  and  let  it  be 
noted  and  remembered,  that  they  are  works  of 
mercy  only,  which  he  justifies  on  the  Sabbath.  It 
was  to  relieve  the  ox,  or  the  sheep,  from  present 
suffering,  that  he  might  be  pulled  out  of  a  pit,  or 
led  away  to  watering.  It  was  to  deliver  men  and 
women  from  present  distress,  that  Christ  healed 
them  on  the  Sabbath.  It  was  because  the  disci- 
ples were  then  hungry,  that  he  excused  them,  for 
plucking  and  rubbing  a  few  ears  of  grain,  as  they 
passed  through  a  field,  on  their  way  (it  would 
seem)  to  public  worship.  Neither  the  precepts, 
nor  the  example  of  Christ,  can  be  pleaded,  to 
sanction  works  of  any  other  character,  than  such 
as  have  been  mentioned. 

The  preceding  observations  will,  if  we  mistake 
not,  help  the  reader  to  understand  and  limit  the 
word  necessity,  as  it  is  used  in  a  very  brief,  but 
able  commentary  on  the  ten  commandments. 
"  The  Sabbath  is  to  be  sanctified,  by  an  holy 
resting  all  that  day,  from  such  worldly  employ- 
ments and  recreations  as  are  lawful  on  other 
days,  and  spending  the  whole  time  in  public  and 
private  exercises  of  God's  worship,  except  so 
much  as  is  to  be  taken  up  in  works  of  necessity 
and  mercy?^    We  are  persuaded  that  the  wor4 


63 

necessity  here  has  in  a  thousand  instances  been  so 
defined,  as  to  cover  real,  not  to  say  palpable  vio- 
lations of  the  fourth  commandment.  For  how 
easily  do  men  persuade  themselves  that  whatever^ 
their  interest  seems  to  require,  is  a  work  of  ne- 
cessity. 

Thus,  one  man  gathers  his  wheat  on  the  Sab- 
bath, as  a  work  of  necessity ;  another  carts  his 
hay ;  a  third  posts  his  books ;  a  fourth  pursues  his 
journey  j  a  fifth  spends  the  day  in  writing  letters 
of  business ;  a  sixth  loads  and  sends  out  his  ship. 
Now,  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  divines  cer- 
tainly cannot  be  held  answerable  for  all  the  mis- 
constructions which  may  possibly  be  put  upon 
their  language.  It  would  be  most  unreasonable 
to  demand  of  them,  to  guard  effectually  against  all 
such  abuses.  The  imperfections  of  human  lan- 
guage will  always  afford  ample  scope  for  colour- 
ing and  perversion.  But  the  word  necessity  is 
nowhere  used  by  the  sacred  penman  to  designate 
any  thing  that  is  lawful  to  be  done  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  as  it  is  liable  to  the  greatest  abuses,  we  have 
sometimes  wished  that  it  had  never  been  sanction- 
ed by  such  venerable  authority. 

Since,  however,  it  has  been  adopted  by  most 
theological  writers,  it  becomes  extremely  impor- 
tant to  ascertain  in  what  scriptural  sense  any  work 
can  be  necessary  "on  the  Lord's  day.  Feeding 
and  watering  cattle  may,  doubtless,  in  one  sense, 
be  called  necessary ;  because  food  and  water  are 
essential  to  the  comfort  of  beasts,  as  well  as  men. 
In  a  strong  and  universal  sense,  food  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  sustain  human  life ;  no  one  can  long 


64 

subsist  without  it.  In  a  more  limited  sense,  it  is 
necessary  every  day ;  because  we  cannot,  in  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  be  comfortable  a  single  day 
without  it.  In  this  latter  sense,  it  was  doubtless 
necessary  for  the  disciples  to  pluck  the  ears  of 
corn.  They  were  hungry,  and  food  of  some  kind 
was  necessary,  to  abate  the  cravings  of  nature. 
But  in  appealing  to  our  Lord's  indulgence  here, 
we  should  take  care  never  to  plead  necessity, 
where  the  cases  are  dissimilar.  We  may  not 
give  a  wider  or  more  liberal  construction  to  the 
fourth  commandment,  than  Christ  has  given. 
Such  explanations  as  were  necessary,  he  gave,  but 
in  all  other  respects,  left  the  law  as  he  found  it. 

We  believe  the  scriptures  do  not  authorize  any 
works,  as  works  of  necessity,  on  the  Sabbath, 
which  are  not,  at  the  same  time,  works  of  charity 
or  mercy.  Nor  are  all  works  of  charity  and 
mercy  allowable.  Those,  and  only  those,  may 
engage  our  attention  on  the  Lord's  da}'',  which 
we  had  no  opportimity  of  doing  before,  and  which 
cannot,  consistently  with  mercy  and  benevolence, 
be  postponed  till  the  end  of  the  Sabbath.  Necessa- 
ry works  of  mercy,  would  therefore,  as  it  appears 
to  us,  be  more  definite,  less  liable  to  abuse,  and  in 
fact  more  correct,  than  works  of  necessity  and 
mercy.  This  would  leave  us,  as  the  Scriptures 
do,  at  full  liberty  to  partake  temperately  of  the 
bounties  of  providence ;  to  feed  the  hungry ;  to 
take  care  of  the  sick,  and  to  attend  to  the  suffer- 
ings and  wants  of  domestic  animals;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  would  take  away  the  plea  of  neces- 
sity, from  those  who  now  gravely  bring  it  forward, 


(55 

to  justify  thoughts  and  conversation,  and  labors 
and  journies  and  recreations,  which  are  prompted 
by  avarice  instead  of  benevolence ;  by  the  lust  of 
the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of 
life,  instead  of  mercy. 

SECTION    III. 

When  the  discussion  of  any  important  subject 
results  in  the  firm  establishment  of  a  general  prin- 
ciple, it  is  an  extremely  convenient  method  of 
evading  its  application,  to  remark  coolly,  that  every 
general  rule  has  its  exceptions.  By  a  free  and 
dexterous  use  of  this  trite  expedient,  men  contrive 
to  justify  themselves  in  various  practices,  which 
are  contrary,  alike  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
divine  law.  On  no  subject,  perhapsj  is  this  per- 
verse ingenuity  more  frequently  employed,  than 
upon  the  prohibitions  of  the  fourth  commandment. 
The  prevailing  belief  is,  that  the  Sabbath  is  an 
ordinance  of  God,  and  that  as  a  general  rule, 
Avorldly  employments  and  recreations  on  that  day 
are  sinful.  But  then,  three  persons  out  of  four 
have  their  exceptions  always  ready,  and  before 
one  half  of  these  exceptions  are  enumerated,  the 
rule  itself  is  virtually  destroyed.  It  seems  import- 
ant, therefore,  to  examine  some  of  the  excuses 
which  thousands  urge  for  doing  their  own  work, 
and  finding  their  own  pleasures,  upon  the  Lord's 
day.     It  is  said. 

In  the  first  place,  that  manual  labor  in  the  field, 
is  sometimes  warranted  by  the  most  urgent  ne- 
cessity, and  therefore  cannot  be  a  violation  of  the 

6* 


66 

divine  law.  This  is  a  favorite  position  with  many, 
whose  conduct  is  in  the  main  correct :  and  they 
seem  to  think  it  impregnable.  Let  us  try  this 
question  of  necessity,  however,  by  putting  an  ex- 
treme case.  "  I  am  very  poor,  my  family  is  large 
and  entirely  dependent  on  my  earnhigs  for  sub- 
sistence. This  year,  for  the  first  time,  I  have  a 
small  field  of  wheat,  which  is  ready  for  the  sickle. 
But  by  reason  of  continued  rains,  it  begins  to 
sprout  in  tlie  ear.  The  first  fair  day  is  the  Sab- 
bath. Should  I  wait  till  Monday,  it  will  probably 
rain  again  and  wholly  ruin  the  crop  ;  in  which 
case,  my  children  will  be  Avithout  bread. — Now 
what  is  duty  ?  Shall  I  let  the  golden  opportunity 
pass  unimproved,  or  shall  I  go  into  the  field  and 
secure  what  a  bountiful  God  has  given  me  ?" 

In  examining  this  case  of  supposed  necessity, 
the  reader  will  perceive  at  a  single  glance,  that  it 
does  not  come  within  the  rule  which  we  have  en- 
deavoured to  establish.  It  will  not  compare  with 
the  case  of  pulling  an  animal  out  of  the  pit ;  of 
leading  him  away  to  watering ;  of  healing  the 
sick ;  or  of  the  disciples  plucking  the  ears  of  corn. 
If  this  poor  man  goes  into  his  wheat  field  to  labor 
upon  the  Lord's  day,  it  is  not  to  satisfy  present 
hunger ;  it  is  not  to  alleviate  distress  which  he 
or  his  family  feels  at  the  time,  but  to  provide 
against  future  want.  This  ought,  in  our  appre- 
hension, to  settle  the  question;  for  what  right  has 
either  a  poor  or  a  rich  man  to  do  a  thing,  for 
which  he  can  find  no  warrant  of  precept  or  exam- 
ple in  the  Scriptures  ?  God  foresaw  from  the  be- 
ginning all  the  circumstances  of  such  extreme 


67 

cases  as  tliat  which  we  have  supposed,  and  would 
no  doubt  have  provided  for  thf  m  in  the  law,  had 
he  meant  to  make  them  exceptions  to  the  general 
prohibition,  "  thou  shall  not  do  any  work." 

Now  the  question  is,  has  he  made  any  such 
proviso  ?  Has  he  said,  in  harvest  time  thou  mayest 
work?  No,  but  directly  the  reverse.  See  Exod. 
xxxiv.  21.  Six  days  thou  shalt  work,  but  on  the 
seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest;  in  earing  time  and 
in  harvest  thou  shalt  rest. — Why  this  emphatical 
and  peremptory  specification  1  The  reason  is  ob- 
vious. It  was  to  guard  against  that  very  con- 
struction of  the  law,  which  is  pleaded  for  in  the 
case  now  under  consideration.  God  knew  that 
the  Israelites  would  be  strongly  tempted  to  labor 
on  the  Sabbath,  just  as  men  now  are,  in  the  time 
of  ingathering.  •  He  therefore  expressly  required 
them  to  rest  as  at  other  times,  without  making  one 
proviso  for  unfavorable  seasons,  or  the  least  ex- 
ception in  favor  of  the  poor. 

Were  the  Israelites,  then,  to  construe  the  com- 
mand literally  in  this  respect,  and  are  we  autho- 
rized to  give  it  a  different  construction'?  Certainly 
not.  W^e  cannot  urge  a  single  argument  in  favor 
of  laboring  on  the  Sabbath,  which  they  might  not 
have  urged  with  equal  plausibility.  The  law 
which  forbade  tliein,  has  never  been  repealed.  It 
is  therefore  as  obligatory  upon  ifs  as  it  was  on 
them.  This  view  of  the  subject  appears  to  be  de- 
cisive. The  poor  man  in  the  case  supposed,  must 
not  labor  in  his  wheat  field  on  the  Lord's  day. 

But  it  may  be  useful  to  examine  the  case  a  little 
more  minutely.     The  objector  begins  by  alleging 


68 

his  poverty  as  an  excuse.  This  implies  that  if  he 
were  rich,  he  would  think  himself  bound  to  rest, 
and  to  run  the  venture  of  losing  the  crop.  Is 
there  then  one  moral  law  for  the  rich,  and  another 
for  the  poor  ?  Let  him  turn  over  every  page — let 
him  read  every  verse  of  his  Bible,  and  see  if  he 
can  find  any  thing  like  it.  In  what  book  or  chap- 
ter can  he  find,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  though  the 
rich  may  not  work  on  the  Sabbath,  the  poor  in 
certain  circumstances  may  ?"  We  know  it  may 
be  said,  the  poor  man  who  works,  has  a  better  ex- 
cuse for  so  doing  than  his  rich  neighbor.  But 
what  does  this  prove  ?  Certainly  not  that  he  is 
blameless,  though  he  may  be  less  criminal. 

If  the  objector  can  find  nothing  in  Scripture  to 
support  his  plea,  but  is  obliged  after  all  to  rest  it 
upon  his  poverty,  let  him  consider  where  this  will 
lead  him.  If  he  may  violate  one  command  of 
God,  because  he  is  poor,  why  not  another?  If 
the  fourth,  why  not  the  eighth  ?  If  he  may  labor 
when  God  says.  Thou  shall  do  no  work,  and 
plead  poverty  as  an  excuse ;  why  not  take  the 
property  of  another,  when  God  says,  Thou  shall 
not  steal,  and  justify  himself  by  the  same  excuse  1 
Indeed,  where  will  he  stop?  If  he  makes  exceptions 
to  one  command  of  the  decalogue  without  autho- 
rity, why  not  to  all  the  rest,  whenever  it  may  suit 
hJs  convenience !  And  if  he  may,  why  may  not 
every  other  poor  man  in  the  world?  And  then 
what  becomes  of  God's  law  ? 

Further :  '  f  the  poor  man  who  has  a  small  field  of 
wheat,  m:.^  labor  on  the  Sabbath  to  secure  it,  what 
Bkall  we  say  of  the  thousands  who  have  no  crop 


69 

at  all?  Surely  if  it  be  necessary  for  him  to  lay 
up  his  grain  for  future  use,  it  is  quite  as  necessary 
for  them  to  earn  something  for  future  support. 
If  he  may  work  because  he  has  a  crop,  much 
more  may  they  because  they  have  none.  If  it 
be  right  for  him  to  earn  ten  dollars,  by  gathering 
his  wheat,  it  cannot  be  wrong  for  his  poorer  neigh- 
bor to  earn  one  dollar,  by  laboring  in  the  same 
field  for  hire.  If  then  the  plea  of  poverty,  which 
we  are  considering,  be  valid  j  if  a  man  may  work 
on  the  Lord's  day  because  he  has  but  a  little 
grain  and  his  family  will  want  it ;  then  every 
poor  man  in  the  country  may  work  on  the  Sab- 
bath, to  earn  something  for  his  destitute  family, 
especially  in  time  of  harvest.  Nay,  more ;  all  the 
poor  who  live  by  their  daily  earnings,  and  find 
that  they  cannot  obtain  a  satisfactory  support  in 
six  days,  may  plead  necessity,  for  laboring  every 
Lord's  day  in  the  year ; — unless,  indeed,  that  com- 
fortable kind  of  poverty,  which  leaves  a  man 
something  to  reap,  is  more  urgent  (we  might  say 
more  lawless)  than  absolute  want.  Admit  the 
validity  of  the  plea  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, and  abide  by  the  consequences,  and  there  is 
an  end  of  the  Sabbath. 

But  the  man  who  gathers  his  wheat  in  the  case 
supposed,  rests  his  defence  partly  on  other 
grounds.  He  tells  us  that  it  begins  to  sprout  in 
the  ear  or  in  the  swath  already.  The  first  fair 
day  is  the  Sabbath.  It  may  rain  again  on  Monday 
and  wholly  ruhi  the  crop,  in  which  case  his  chil- 
dren will  have  to  go  without  bread.  A  bountiful 
God,  he  says,  has  blessed  him  with  this  crop,  and 


70 

he  asks  ratlier  triumphantly,  "What  Is  to  be  done  1 
t  intended  to  gather  it  before,  but  the  weather 
would  not  permit.  Shall  I  lose  all  rather  than 
work  a  little,  for  once,  upon  the  Lord's  day  ? 
Surely  God  never  intended,  that  the  law  should 
be  so  strictly  construed." 

Now  let  all  that  is  here  advanced,  be  candidly 
considered.  Suppose  it  should  rain  on  the  fol- 
lowing Monday,  and  continue  to  rain  till  the 
crop  is  totally  lost.  "What  would  that  prove  ? 
That  the  proprietor  ought  to  have  secured  it  on 
the  Sabbath  ?  Nothing  like  it.  To  the  law  and  the 
testimony  we  appeal,  and  we  are  sure  no  justifica- 
tion of  labor  can  be  found  there.  But  his  family 
will  suffer,  it  is  said,  by  his  neglect.  How  does 
he  know  that  ?  The  Scriptures  assure  us,  that  in 
keeping"  Gocfs  commandments  there  is  great 
feward.  I  have,  says  the  Psalmist,  /  have  been 
young  and  now  am  old  ;  yet  have  I  not  seen  the 
righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging 
bread.  If  God  takes  away  what  he  seemed  about 
to  give,  or  which  is  the  same  thing,  if  he  brings  a 
field  of  grain  to  maturity,  and  affords  no  oppor- 
tunity to  gather  it  without  violating  his  law,  he 
has  wise  and  good  reasons  for  disappointing  the 
expectations  of  the  proprietor.  And  who  does  not 
know,  that  he  can,  if  he  pleases,  more  than  make 
up  the  loss  in  some  other  way  ?  Can  we  be  hap- 
py—can we  obtain  any  good  thing,  without  the 
blessing  of  God  ?  And  is  the  blessing  to  be  se- 
cured by  breaking  his  commandments :  by  work- 
ing when  he  says  we  shall  not  ?  How  easily, 
when  we  seem  to  suffer  loss  by  our  obedience,  can 


71 

he  open  sources  of  gain  which  we  never  thought 
of?  With  what  perfect  ease  on  the  other  hand, 
can  he  blast  our  hopes,  and  mar  our  comforts, 
when  we  attempt  to  benefit  ourselves  by  an  in- 
fraction of  his  holy  law?  But  "God  has  given  me 
a  crop,  and  this  is  a  plain  indication  that  I  should 
gather  it ; — on  week  days  if  I  can  ;  on  the  Sab- 
bath if  I  must.  He  surely  cannot,  after  bringing 
it  to  perfection,  intend  that  it  shall  be  lost." 
We  answer,  how  do  you  know  that  ?  Suppose  he 
should  put  it  out  of  your  power  to  gather  it  ? 
This  certainly  would  be  no  uncommon  event. 
Hundreds  of  acres  are  destroyed  every  year 
by  winds  and  hail.  Great  quantities  are  swept 
off  by  sudden  inundations.  And  not  a  little 
is  consumed  in  the  barn  by  lightning.  It  is  not 
true,  therefore,  that  God  always  intends  to  ha^  e 
the  precious  grain  secured  and  enjoyed,  when  he 
has  caused  it  to  grow  and  ripen  to  the  harvest. 
How,  then,  can  you  know  w^hat  may  be  his  will 
in  regard  to  yours  ?  If  he  preserves  it  from  the 
destructive  power  of  the  elements,  and  enables 
you  to  secure  it,  without  violating  his  law,  then  it 
becomes  your  duty  to  secure  it.  If  not,  your  duty 
is  to  acquiesce  cheerfully  in  the  loss. 

The  reader  will  observe,  that  we  have  thus  far 
■proceeded  on  the  supposition,  that  work  must  be 
done  upon  the  Sabbath,  or  the  field  of  wheat  will 
certainly  be  lost :  and  we  do  most  strenuously  in- 
sist, that  even  this  supposition  furnishes  no  suffi- 
cient excuse  for  encroaching  upon  the  sacred  rest. 
But  our  main  argument  may  be  placed  on  iDiich 
stronger  ground.  How  does  the  proprietor  know, 


n 

that  by  leaving  his  grain  one  day  longer  in  the 
field,  he  should  lose  it  ?  We  have  it  from  the  best 

authority,  that  in  one  part  of  the  town  of  B , 

a  considerable  number  of  farmers,  a  few  years 
ago,  took  up  and  carted  in  their  grain  upon  the 
Sabbath.  The  next  year,  just  before  harvest, 
their  crops  were  destroyed  by  a  hail  storm,  the 
ravages  of  which  were  mostly  confined  to  that 
neighborhood  !  But  we  do  not  remember  a  soli- 
tary instance,  nor  after  much  inquiry  have  we 
been  able  to  find  one,  in  which  a  field  of  grain  has 
been  lost,  by  its  not  being  attended  to  on  the  Sab- 
bath. In  some  instances,  it  may  have  been  in- 
jured, so  as  not  to  make  quite  so  good  bread  ;  but 
who  that  thinks  and  acts  rationally,  would  not 
prefer  poor  bread,  with  the  divine  blessing,  to  the 
most  costly  dainties,  with  the  curses  denounced 
against  Sabbath  breakers  resting  on  his  head  ? 

Still,  however,  the  plea  is  urged,  that  it  has 
rained  all  the  week,  and  may  rain  again  on  Mon- 
day, and  then  my  crop  will  be  nearly  ruined. 
We  answer,  it  may  not  rain  on  Monday,  and  then 
your  crop  will  be  much  better  fitted  for  the  barn 
or  the  stack,  than  it  can  be  on  the  Sabbath.  Very 
rarely,  indeed,  is  even  a  slight  loss  incurred,  by 
abstaining  from  labor  ; — not  so  often,  it  is  presum- 
ed, as  by  performing  it.  On  this  point,  we  will 
state  two  facts,  one  of  which  came  under  our  own 
observation,  and  the  other  is  fresh  in  the  memory 
of  many.  The  facts  are  similar.  In  both  cases, 
there  had  been  a  long  rain  in  the  midst  of  harvest. 
In  both,  the  first  fair  day  was  the  Lord's  day.  In 
both,  much  grain  lay  in  the  swath.     In  both 


78 

some  people  went  into  their  fields ;  while  others 
repaired  to  the  house  of  God.  The  Sabbath 
passed  away ;  Monday  came,  and  it  did  not  rain. 
Those  who  had  trusted  Providence,  and  spent  the 
preceding  day  in  the  service  of  God,  went  out, 
invigorated  by  rest,  and  returned  with  joy  ^  bring- 
ing their  sheaves  with  them :  while  those  who 
would  not  trust  their  Maker,  but  spent  his  holy 
day  in  doing  their  own  work,  soon  found,  to  their 
cost,  that  they  had  hurried  their  grain  in  before  it 
wgjS  dry,  and  that  so  far  from  saving  any  thing, 
they  incurred  much  additional  labor  and  expense  ! 
These  facts  need  no  comment.  They  speak  for 
themselves,  and  the  lesson  which  they  teach,  can- 
not, one  would  think,  be  easily  misunderstood. 

Thus  have  we  gone  through  with  the  plea  which 
we  proposed  to  examine ;  and,  unless  we  greatly 
mistake,  the  result  of  the  investigation  is,  that 
even  in  the  extreme  case  supposed — manual  labor 
in  the  field  on  the  Lord's  day,  is  both  unprofitable 
and  sinful.  We  will  not  consume  time  in  prov-. 
ing,  what  must  be  so  obvious,  that  if  the  plea 
wholly  fails  in  an  extreme  case,  it  must,  of 
course,  fail  in  all  other  cases,  where  the  alleged 
necessity  is  less  urgent.  It  cannot  be  necessary 
to  prove,  that  if  the  poor  man  may  not  gather  his 
little  harvest  on  the  Sabbath,  the  rich  man  may 
not  gather  his  great  harvest — nor  that  if  grain 
may  not  be  secured  on  that  holy  day,  hay  may 
not — nor,  finally,  that  if  manual  labor,  on  the 
Lord's  day,  is  sinful  in  time  of  harvest,  it  is  sinful 
Jit  all  times. 

It  will  not  be  denied,  that  a  subject  of  such 

7 


high  and  solemn  moment  as  this,  demands  the  se- 
rious consideration  of  every  person  in  the  com- 
munity. If  the  reasoning  and  conclusions  on 
which  we  have  relied  in  the  preceding  pages,  be 
correct,  then  it  is  certain,  that  a  tremendous  load 
of  guilt,  incurred  by  profaning  the  Sabbath,  lies 
on  our  country.  For  it  is  a  mournful  fact,  that 
multitudes  have,  of  late  years,  done  their  own 
work,  in  what  they  have  been  pleased  to  call 
cases  of  necessity,  on  the  Lord's  day.  It  is  high 
time  to  break  off  from  this  sin,  by  righteousness ; 
to  repent,  and  do  so  no  more.  Let  all  those  who 
have  quieted  their  consciences,  by  such  pleas  and 
excuses  as  have  been  stated  and  examined  in  this 
section,  give  the  whole  subject  a  thorough  inves- 
tigation, and  beware  that  they  do  not  rest  on 
ground  which  will  utterly  fail  them  in  the  day  of 
judgment. 

Let  professors  of  religion  especially,  walk  in 
the  straight  and  safe  path  of  revealed  truth.  How 
deeply  have  some  such  wounded  the  feelings  of 
their  brethren ;  what  a  reproach  have  they  brought 
upon  their  profession  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
and  how  highly  have  they  provoked  the  great 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  by  laboring  on  that  holy  day, 
in  wilful  violation  of  his  command  ! 

If  it  were  a  very  doubtful  question,  it  would  be 
their  plain  duty  to  abstain,  in  all  cases;  for  they 
are  required  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of  evil. 
How  much  more  imperious,  then,  is  the  duty, 
when  the  practice  is  plainly  contrary  to  one  of  the 
express  commands  of  Heaven. 

But  here,  certain  extreme  cases  are  supposed, 


75 

sometimes  honestly,  and  sometimes  captiously, 
which  deserve  a  moment's  consideration: — such 
as  the  following :  "  If  my  house  takes  fire  on  the 
Sabbath,  shall  I  not  extinguish  it  ?  If  a  sudden 
inundation  threatens  to  sweep  away  my  hay,  or 
grain,  shall  1  not  try  to  secure  it  ?  or  to  under- 
mine my  dwelling,  shall  I  not  endeavor  to  pre- 
vent it  ?  AVhen  a  ship  is  wrecked  in  a  storm,  on 
the  Sabbath,  shall  nothing  be  done  to  save  the 
cargo?  Or,  shall  no  breast- work  be  thrown  up 
to  repel  the  attacks  of  an  enemy  ?  And  if  it  is 
lawful  to  do  these  things  on  the  Sabbath,  where 
shall  we  stop  and  draw  a  line,  beyond  which  it 
would  be  criminal  to  go  ?  If  we  may  labor  to  save 
our  property  from  the  ravages  of  fire  and  floods, 
why  not,  also,  to  save  it  from  the  destructive 
effects  of  long-continued  dampness,  or  drenching 
rains,  in  time  of  hay-making  and  harvest  ?" 

To  all  such  questions,  we  give  this  answer,  ^n 
asking  them,  you  are  either  sincere,  or  your  object 
is  to  justify  your  own  secular  appropriations  of 
holy  time.  If  you  are  sincere  ;  if  these  extreme 
cases  embarrass  you  ;  if  you  honestly  wish  to 
know  what  you  may,  and  what  you  may  not 
do  on  the  Sabbath,  a  little  reflection  must  be  suf- 
ficient to  convince  you,  that  there  is  a  wide  dif- 
ference between  secular  labor — such  as  going 
out  to  reap  your  harvest,  or  make  your  hay ;  and 
those  sudden  efforts  which  are  sometimes  demand- 
ed, by  the  breaking  out  of  fire,  or  water  j  but 
which  you,  perhaps,  may  never  be  called  to  make 
once  in  your  lives.  Besides,  in  common  parlance, 
the  former  is  doing  work,  and  the  latter  is  not. 


76 

To  stop  where  such  a  manifest  difference  exists,  is 
easy ;  but  if  you  once  pass  these  bounds,  you  will 
find  it  extremely  difficult  to  stop  any  where ;  so 
great  will  often  be  the  apparent  urgency  of  every 
kind  of  manual  labor.  This  is  our  answer,  to  all 
those  who  wish  to  know  their  duty,  and  to  be 
governed  by  the  spirit  of  the  divine  law. 

But  if  your  object  in  putting  such  extreme  cases 
is,  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  sweeping  inference, 
that  whenever  any  thing  which  is  exposed  to  loss 
or  injury,  can  be  saved  by  laboring  on  the  Sab- 
bath, it  is  right  to  work,  we  have  little  hope  of 
convincing  you,  that  the  inference  is  unauthorized. 
For,  in  the  first  place ;  human  judgment  is  so 
much  under  the  control  of  inclination,  that  men 
generally  believe  what  they  ardently  wish  to  have 
true.  And,  in  the  second  place ;  when  they  are 
anxious  to  free  themselves  from  the  restraints  of 
any  divine  statute,  God  often  gives  them  up  to 
judicial  blindness,  that  "  they  may  eat  the  fruit  of 
their  own  way,  and  be  filled  with  their  own  de- 
vices." "If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine ;"  but  if  not,  how  can  he  ex- 
pect to  know  ? 

SECTION    IV. 

The  prohibitory  clause  of  the  fourth  command- 
ment, undoubtedly  forbids  ^ratJcZz"/?^  on  the  Lord's 
day,  either  for  the  sake  of  gain  or  pleasure.  We 
have  no  more  right  to  find  our  pleasures  on  the 
public  road,  than  in  a  private  house,  or  on  a  pub- 
lic green.    If  we  seek  them  any  where,  the  holy 


77 

day  is  profaned.  And,  if  it  be  a  violation  of  God's 
law  to  labor  in  the  field  for  money,  or  for  bread, 
surely  traveling  for  similar  objects,  cannot  be  jus- 
tified. Secular  business  does  not  change  its  nature, 
from  any  mere  change  of  circumstances.  To 
condemn  the  farmer,  who  ploughs  and  sows  on 
the  Lord's  day,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  excuse 
the  merchant,  who  continues  his  secular  business, 
would  be  manifestly  absurd.  "  God  is  no  respecter 
of  persons." 

But  there  are  certain  popular  arguments  and 
excuses,  which  ought  to  be  weighed  in  the  ba- 
lances of  the  sanctuary,  v/hile  we  are  upon  this 
part  of  the  subject.  The  merchant,  for  example, 
after  eulogising  the  Sabbath  as  an  eminently  use- 
ful and  important  institution,  reasons  in  this  man- 
ner : — "  My  ship  has  just  arrived  in  a  distant  port, 
and  I  must  be  there  to  receive  and  dispose  of  the 
cargo,  as  soon  as  possible.  Or,  the  times  are  cri- 
tical, and  if  I  do  not  make  the  most  of  every  day, 
I  shall  be  ruined.  Or,  the  markets  are  so  extreme- 
ly fluctuating,  and  so  much  depends  upon  seizing 
the  favorable  moment  for  buying  and  selling,  that 
the  Sabbath  cannot  always  be  punctiliously  ob- 
served, without  incurring  heavy  losses.  Or,  I  have 
heard  that  a  debtor  is  in  failing  circumstances, 
and  he  must  be  brought  to  a  settlement  with  the 
least  possible  delay." 

But  what,  we  ask,  do  these  similar  excuses 
amount  to  ?  Just  this,  and  no  more : — a  strict  re- 
gard to  the  law  of  God  may,  in  some  extraordi- 
nary cases,  be  prejudicial  to  a  man's  "wealth 
and  outward  estate."    Be  it  so,  and  what  then  ? 


78 

Is  it  right,  can  it  be  safe,  to  trample  on  a  divine 
institution  for  the  sake  of  gain  ?  Why  should  men 
plunge  so  deeply  into  business,  that  they  must 
either  encroach  upon  holy  time,  or  lose  their  pro- 
perty? To  create  such  a  necessity  for  traveling 
on  the  Lord's  day,  and  then  frame  that  necessity 
into  an  excuse,  is  ingenious  enough,  to  be  sure ; 
but  then  it  is  robbing  God.  It  can  be  regarded  in 
no  better  light,  than  as  a  daring  expedient  to  bring 
down  his  immutable  law  to  the  low  and  fluctu- 
ating standard  of  human  convenience  or  avarice. 
And  is  the  law  to  be  thus  bartered  away  for  a  little 
temporary  gain,  which,  when  secured,  "  drowns 
many  thousands  in  destruction  and  perdition  ?" 

If  a  man  in  great  and  prosperous  business,  may 
plead  the  urgency  of  it  as  an  excuse  for  traveling, 
why  may  not  every  other  man  in  business  plead 
for  the  same  indulgence?  If  one  man,  who  is  now 
worth  half  a  million,  or  only  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, may  pursue  his  journey  on  the  Sabbath,  to 
add  some  thousands  more  to  his  fortune,  why 
may  not  the  small  dealer  do  the  same  to  add  fifties, 
or  tens  ?  And  how  much  more  should  a  very  poor 
man  be  excused,  when  he  has  a  prospect  of  gain- 
ing a  pittance  by  the  journey. 

"  Yes,  I  admit  the  force  of  your  reasoning," 
says  one, — "  this  traveling  for  lucre  6n  the  Sab- 
bath, will  never  do.  But  mine  is  a  different  case. 
I  am  returning  from  a  long  journey,  and  on  Sa- 
turday night,  I  find  myself  twenty  miles  from 
home.  Surely  there  can  be  no  harm  in  riding  that 
distance  in  the  morning,  especially  as  I  am  nearly 
out  of  money."    But  is  your  desire  to  reach  home, 


79 

a  sufficient  reason  for  breaking  the  Sabbath  ?  Who 
would  not  rather  wait  a  day  longer,  than  by  has- 
tening home,  incur  the  displeasure  of  the  Almighty ! 
As  for  the  excuse,  I  have  not  money  enough  to  en- 
able me  to  lie  by  on  the  Sabbath,  be  assured  it 
will  cost  you  more,  in  the  long  run,  to  travel  than 
to  rest.  If  you  cannot  afford  to  keep  God's  Sab- 
baths on  the  road,  much  less  can  you  afford  to 
trample  them  down  in  your  journey.  If  the  ob- 
ject of  your  going  abroad,  was  to  visit  friends  in 
health,  and  you  had  not  the  means  of  defraying 
the  expense,  without  encroaching  upon  holy  time, 
better,  far,  were  it  never  to  see  them  more  in  this 
world,  than  to  incifr  the  guilt  of  Sabbath-breaking. 

But  we  must  h£isten  to  dispose  of  another  ex- 
cuse. "  I  venerate  the  Sabbath,"  says  one,  "  and 
mean  to  keep  it ;  but  I  submit  the  following  case 
of  conscience.  Putting  up  at  a  public  house  on 
Saturday  evening,  I  find  myself  next  morning  sur- 
rounded by  tiplers,  swearers,  and  gamblers.  To 
read,  or  pray,  or  meditate,  in  such  a  place,  is  im- 
possible. I  can  certainly  keep  the  Sabbath  better 
on  the  road  than  here ;  and  shall  I  go  or  stay  ?" 

Ans.  1.  How  came  you  to  stop  at  such  a  ta- 
vern ?  Surety  had  you  been  anxious  to  keep  the 
Sabbath  holy,  you  might  have  found  a  better. 
And  is  it  strange  that  you  should  be  punished  for 
your  negligence  ?  Those  who  remember  the  Sab- 
bath day,  and  make  inquiries  with  reference  to  it, 
will  rarely  meet  with  any  such  difficulty. 

Ans.  2.  If  there  is  a  place  of  worship  near,  go  by 
all  means,  whether  it  is  on  your  way,  or  directly 
out  of  it. 


80 

Ans.  3.  If  not,  stay  where  you  are.  Perhaps 
God  may  have  sent  you  there  for  the  very  pur- 
pose of  rebuking  the  despisers  of  his  law,  at  least 
by  your  example ;  and  will  you  shrink  from  it  on 
account  of  its  being  a  severe  trial  ? 

Another  excuse.  "  I  am  removing  with  my 
family — we  have  a  journey  of  several  hundred 
miles  before  us,  and  are  under  the  necessity  of 
studying  as  much  economy  and  expedition  as  we 
can.  Is  it  not  clear  that  under  such  circumstan- 
ces we  ought  to  journey  on  the  Sabbath  ?"  No, — 
the  case  is  not  quite  so  clear  as  you  seem  to  ima- 
gine. Why  do  you  remove  at  all?  Is  it  not  to 
better  your  condition  ?  Da  you  expect  to  improve 
it  without  the  blessing  of  God ;  and  can  you  look 
for  his  blessing  while  you  are  violating  one  of  his 
express  commands  ?  Look  at  the  following  fact : 
Not  many  years  ago,  two  neighbors  in  New-Eng- 
land, sat  out  together  with  their  families  for  the 
western  country.  The  Sabbath  came,  and  with  it 
the  question,  whether  they  should  rest,  or  proceed 
on  their  journey.  Here  they  disagreed ;  and  one 
of  the  party  went  on,  in  defiance  of  God's  com- 
mand. Before  night,  a  child  fell  from  his  wagon 
under  the  wheel,  and  was  so  dreadfully  wounded, 
that  the  whole  family  was  detained  upon  expense 
for  a  number  of  weeks ;  while  the  other  family, 
having  kept  the  Sabbath,  proceeded  expeditiously 
and  safely  to  the  place  of  destination. 

Those  who  expect  to  gain  time  by  traveling 
on  the  Lord's  day,  forget  that  cattle  and  horses 
were  never  made  to  work  seven  days  in  a  week. 
The  rest  which  God  has  ordained,  is  so  necessary 


81 

to  renovate  their  strength,  that  taking  a  very  few 
weeks  together,  they  will  do  more  in  six  days  than 
in  seven.  This  might  be  substantiated,  did  our 
limits  permit,  by  a  reference  to  many  experiments, 
which  have  actually  been  made,  in  various  parts  of 
the  country.  Take  the  following  as  an  example  : 
Two  neighbors  sold  their  farms,  and  started  with 
their  families  for  Ohio.  One  of  them  traveled  the 
first  Sabbath,  and  the  other  rested.  Before  the  end 
of  the  following  week,  the  Sabbath-keeping  family 
overtook  and  passed  by  the  other.  The  next  Sab- 
bath they  rested  again,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
day  were  left  behind  at  the  inn.  In  this  manner, 
the  two  families  proceeded,  the  one  keeping  the 
Sabbath  strictly,  and  the  other  paying  no  regard 
to  it.  But  the  former  completed  their  journey  as 
soon  as  the  latter,  and  with  their  team  in  a  much 
better  condition.  Such,  we  doubt  not,  would  be 
the  result  of  ninety-nine  similar  trials  out  of  a 
hundred.  God  has  said,  that  our  cattle  shall  do 
no  work  on  the  Sabbath,  and  if  we  compel  them 
to  work,  his  wrath  abideth  on  us,  and  we  must  suf- 
fer loss. 

But  suppose  the  saving  by  traveling  with  your 
family  on  the  Lord's  day,  were  to  exceed  your 
most  sanguine  calculations  :  Would  that  make  it 
right  ?  Would  it  secure  the  blessing  of  Heaven 
in  the  end  ?  Better,  infinitely  better  would  it  be, 
for  any  man  always  to  remain  in  a  cottage,  and  in 
the  fear  of  God,  draw  a  scanty  subsistence  from  a 
few  acres,  than  to  break  one  of  the  least  of  his 
commandments,  to  gain  splendor  and  affluence  in  a 
large  house,  and  upon  a  lordly  domain. 


Some  people  contrive  very  economically  to  quiet 
their  consciences,  by  attending  public  worship 
along  on  the  road.  The  calculation  is,  to  rise  early ; 
ride  as  far  as  they  can  before  the  morning  service ; 
hear  a  good  sermon,  w^hile  their  horses  are  re- 
freshed with  a  good  mess  of  provender ;  call  at 
another  church  in  the  afternoon  ;  then  prosecute 
their  journey  till  night,  and  reckoning  up  their 
good  fifty  miles,  retire  to  rest,  blessing  themselves 
that  they  have  kept  the  Sabbath  at  once  so  de- 
voutly and  so  profitably. 

Others,  again,  contrive  to  make  every  thing 
quiet  within,  by  taking  along  with  them  as  a  con- 
venient passport,  some  real,  or  pretended  invalid ; 
and  others  still,  compromise  matters  with  con- 
science, by  resting  in  the  day  time,  and  traveling 
till  a  very  late  hour  on  both  the  preceding,  and  fol- 
lowing evenings.  "  O  shame,  where  is  thy  blush !" 
"  Doth  not  he  that  pondereth  the  heart  consider 
it  ?  and  he  that  keepeth  thy  soul  doth  not  he  know 
it  ?  and  shall  not  he  render  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works  V 

We  cannot  dismiss  this  topic,  without  just  al- 
luding to  a  few  of  the  subterfuges,  to  which  even 
professors  of  religion,  (we  blush  to  say  it,)  resort 
in  some  parts  of  our  country,  in  steam-boats,  packet 
boats,  and  stages.  One  plea  is,  that  '•  these  con- 
veyances will  proceed  on  the  Sabbath,  whether 
we  go  or  not ;  and  it  is  better  to  proceed  quietly 
on  our  M'^ay,  than  to  remain  at  a  public  house, 
where  our  devotions  must  be  liable  to  continual 
interruptions." 

Another  excuse  is,  "  we  often  meet  with  the 


83 

best  of  company,  whose  conversation  is  extremely 
serious  and  edifying."  Another  is,  "  the  boats  are 
well  furnished  with  religious  books  of  all  kinds, 
and  we  can  spend  the  day  as  quietly  and  as  profit- 
ably as  we  could  at  our  own  homes.  And  then, 
what  harm  is  there,  if  while  we  pray  and  read  and 
sleep,  we  gain  a  hundred  miles  in  our  reckoning  ?" 

Another  plea  is,  (though  we  feel  constrained 
to  put  it  down  as  slander,)  that  "clergymen  are 
often  found  in  these  Sabbath  day  conveyances  ; 
and  that  they  preach  most  excellent  sermons," 
and  so  forth,  and  so  forth !  Now  all  these  genteel 
and  fashionable  methods  of  keeping  the  Sabbath, 
are  palpable  violations  of  it. 

Nor  must  we  omit  to  class  the  habit  of  going  to 
sea  on  the  Lord's  day,  among  these  crying  trans- 
gressions. How  often  are  the  principal  wharves, 
in  our  seaports,  crowded  on  Sabbath  mornings,  by 
persons  of  all  ranks  and  occupations.  What  hurry 
is  there — what  confusion — what  disturbance  to  all 
that  live  in  the  neighborhood.  Might  we  not  add, 
what  cursing  and  swearing  often !  What  a  running 
of  porters — what  a  bustling  of  owners,  freighters, 
supercargoes,  passengers,  and  sailors !  What  scenes 
of  confusion,  prolonged  sometimes  till  noon, 
sometimes  till  evening ;  taking  in  stores,  bringing 
and  receiving  letters,  stowing  away  baggage, 
weighing  anchors,  bending  sails,  and  the  like! 
This  hasty  sketch  is  no  fiction.  Nothing  is  exag- 
gerated. In  truth,  the  half  is  not  told.  Such  are 
the  circumstances,  under  which  thousands  part 
with  their  friends  to  see  them  no  more.  Such  are 
the  preparations,  with  which  tens  of  thousands 


84 

take  their  departure,  to  brave  the  dangers  of  the 
seas!  Can  it  be  thought  strange  if  they  make 
losing  voyages,  or  if  they  never  return  ? 

And  here  we  are  forcibly  reminded  of  a  custom 
which  prevails  to  a  considerable  extent  on  our 
sea-board,  and  which  has  often  exceedingly  pained 
and  grieved  us.  We  allude  to  the  impious  mocke- 
ry of  forcing  one  of  the  most  solemn  acts  of  reli- 
gious worship  into  alliance  with  known  and  deli- 
berate transgression.  Thus,  a  father,  or  brother,  or 
son,  (and  possibly  at  the  same  time  a  member  of 
the  church,)  when  in  defiance  of  the  fourth  com- 
mandment, he  sets  out  on  sabbath  morning  for  the 
ship  that  is  just  weighing  anchor,  leaves  behind 
him  a  hasty  note,  requesting  public  prayers  to 
be  offered  up  for  his  safety,  when  he  is  in  the 
very  act  of  sin.  Was  there  ever  a  greater  sole- 
cism ?  How  dare  any  man,  born  in  a  christian 
land,  ask  for  the  prayers  of  God's  people,  that  he 
may  be  succeeded  in  an  enterprise  thus  com- 
menced in  open  violation  of  the  divine  law  ?  How 
can  a  minister  of  the  gospel  command  utterance 
to  read  such  a  note  ?  And  how  can  a  christian  as- 
sembly unite  in  such  a  prayer  ?  the  half  articula- 
ted farewell,  the  crowded  wharf,  the  boatswain's 
call,  the  proud  ship  slowly  moving  from  her  moor- 
ings; and  just  at  hand,  the  great  congregation, 
commending  all  on  board,  in  this  act  of  breaking 
the  sabbath,  to  the  care  of  Him  who  rules  the 
winds  and  the  waves !  What  a  group !  What  a 
spectacle ! 

The  sacred  rest  is  also  violated,  to  a  most  alarm- 
ing extent,  by  parties  of  pleasure  sailing  about  the 


85 

innumerable  bays,  harbours,  and  inlets  of  our  ex- 
tensive sea-board  ;  and  upon  the  rivers,  lakes,  and 
ponds,  which  every  where  intersect  our  country. — 
O  what  a  palpable  transgression  of  the  fourth  com- 
mandment !  How  can  it  be  viewed  in  any  other 
light?  Is  manual  labor  forbidden  ?  Is  traveling 
for  gain,  or  for  pleasure  ?  And  can  any  body  sup- 
pose, that  the  infinite  Lawgiver  intended  to  make 
an  exception  in  favour  of  those  who  do  their  own 
work,  or  find  their  own  pleasure  upon  the  water  ? 
Undoubtedly,  when  a  vessel  is  at  sea,  continuing 
her  course  on  the  Sabbath  is  no  violation  of  the 
holy  rest.  But  this  is  a  widely  diiferent  case  from 
any  that  we  have  mentioned;  and,  therefore,  can 
afford  no  shadow  of  justification,  either  for  leav- 
ing port  on  the  Sabbath,  or  for  being  out  to  sea 
when  it  can  be  avoided. 

Now,  could  all,  or  could  a  tenth  part,  of  these 
violations,  with  their  attendant  evils,  and  certain 
consequences,  be  presented  to  any  serious  mind, 
at  one  view :  we  are  sure  they  would  appear  like 
great  mountains  of  guilt,  sufficient  to  sink  a  nation 
in  ruin. 

We^re  well  aware  that  A,  B,  and  C,  all  have  their 
several  excuses  :  but  there  is  no  excuse  for  viola- 
ting the  Sabbath.  The  scripture  cannot  be  bro- 
ken— The  holy  law  of  God  must  and  will  stand. 
And  wo  be  to  all  such  as  deliberately,  or  habitually 
violate  it,  in  any  of  the  ways  that  have  been  men- 
tioned. 

8 


86 


SECTION  V. 


Wherever  the  Sabbath  is  kept  holy,  it  will  bring 
along  with  it  the  richest  temporal  and  spiritual 
blessings.  Here  we  appeal  to  the  promises  of  God, 
and  to  undeniable  facts. 

The  promises  are  such  as  these : — "  For  thus 
saith  the  Lord,  unto  the  eunuchs  that  keep  my 
Sabbath,  and  choose  the  things  that  please  me,  and 
take  hold  of  my  covenant ;  even  unto  them  will  I 
give  in  mine  house  and  within  my  walls,  a  place 
and  a  name  better  than  sons  and  daughters ;  I  will 
give  them  an  everlasting  name  that  shall  not  be 
cut  off.  Also,  the  sons  of  the  strangers  that  join 
themselves  unto  the  Lord  to  serve  him — every  one 
that  keepeth  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it,  and 
taketh  hold  of  my  covenant,  even  them  will  I  bring 
to  my  holy  mountain,  and  make  them  joyful  in  my 
house  of  prayer :  their  burnt  offerings  and  their 
sacrifices  shall  be  accepted  upon  my  altar."  Isa. 
Ivi.  4—7.  "  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the 
Sabbath,  from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy 
day ;  and  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of 
the  Lord,  honorable ;  and  shalt  honor  him,  not  do- 
ing thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  plea- 
sure, nor  speaking  thine  own  words:  then  shalt 
thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord  ;  and  I  will  cause 
thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and 
feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob,  thy  father : 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  Isa. 
Iviii.  13,  14.  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  ye  dili- 
gently hearken  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord,  to  bring 
in  no  burden  through  the  gates  of  this  city  on  the 


87 

Sabbath  day,  but  hallow  the  Sabbath  day,  to  do  no 
work  tlierein  ;  then  shall  there  enter  into  the  gates 
of  this  city,  kings  and  princes  sitting  upon  the 
throne  of  David,  riding  in  chariots  and  on  horses, 
they  and  their  princes,  the  men  of  Judah,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem ;  and  this  city  shall  re- 
main forever,"  Jer.  xvii.  24,  25. 

These  surely  are  great  and  precious  promises. 
All  the  pious  Jev\^s  found  them  so  in  their  own 
happy  and  prosperous  experience,  and  it  is  too  late 
to  say,  that  they  were  meant  for  the  Jews  only. 
For  in  esatblishing  the  perpetuity  of  the  Sabbath, 
we  have  in  effect  proved  that  the  promises  and 
denunciations  connected  wuth  keeping  or  profaning 
it,  are  addressed  to  all  mankind.  To  all  who  keep 
the  Sabbath  holy  in  every  age  and  nation  the  pro- 
mises come,  laden  with  the  richest  blessings  of 
heaven. 

"  I  have  long  found  by  experience,"  says  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Hale  to  his  children,  "  that  the  due 
observance  of  this  day,  and  the  duties  of  it,  have 
been  of  singular  comfort  and  advantage  to  me ; 
and  I  doubt  not  that  you,  my  children,  will  find  it 
so  to  you.  God  Almighty  is  the  lord  of  our  time, 
and  lends  it  to  us ;  and  as  it  is  but  just  that  we 
should  consecrate  this  part  of  our  time  to  him  ;  so 
1  have  found  by  a  strict  and  diligent  observation, 
that  a  due  observance  of  this  day  hath  ever  had 
joined  to  it  a  blessing  upon  the  rest  of  my  time; 
and  the  week  that  hath  so  begun,  hath  been  bless- 
ed and  prosperous  to  me ;  and  on  the  contrary 
side,  when  I  have  been  negligent  of  the  duties  of 
his  day,  the  rest  of  the  week  hath  been  unsuc- 


88 

cessful  and  unhappy  to  my  secular  employments ; 
so  that  I  could  easily  make  an  estimate  of  my 
own  secular  employments  the  week  following,  by 
the  manner  of  my  spending  the  Sabbath  day : 
and  this  I  do  not  say  slightly,  or  inconsiderately ; 
but  upon  a  long  and  sound  observation  and  expe- 
rience." 

Few  Christians,  probably,  have  been  so  obser- 
vant in  this  particular  as  Sir  Mathew  Hale ;  but 
not  a  few  can,  we  are  persuaded,  give  substan- 
tially the  same  testimony  from  the  less  full  and 
accurate  records  of  their  own  personal  experience. 
Keeping  the  Sabbath  holy,  is  an  essential  branch 
of  that  "  godliness,  which  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  as 
well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come."  All  men  in  a 
Christian  land  might  know,  if  they  would,  that  in 
keeping  the  fourth  commandment,  as  well  as  every 
other,  there  is  great  reward.  It  is  a  reproach  to 
thousands  of  professing  Christians,  that  while  the 
world  has  its  monthly  prognostications,  its  lucky 
and  unlucky  days,  borrowed  from  the  heathen,  or 
designated  by  mere  caprice,  they  lay  so  little  stress 
upon  a  day,  the  devout  observance  of  which  has 
such  a  mighty  influence  upon  the  happiness  of  in- 
dividuals, and  the  well-being  of  society. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man — was  made  for 
his  comfort — was  made  to  promote  his  happiness 
here,  and  to  prepare  him  for  an  eternal  rest  in 
heaven.  Our  being  required  to  keep  the  Sabbath 
holy,  casts  a  divine  lustre  upon  the  benevolence 
of  its  Author :— for  it  is  exactly  adapted  to  our  na- 
ture and  circumstances.  So  far  is  it  from  interrupt- 


89 

ing  the  lawful  and  necessary  business  of  human 
life,  that  it  gives  new  energy  to  our  bodies  and 
minds,  and  new  sweetness  to  all  our  secular  labors. 
It  is  a  fact  well  attested,  and  fully  established  by 
experience,  that  in  the  long  run,  men  can  do  more 
work  in  six  days  of  the  week,  than  they  can  in 
seven.  The  same,  as  we  have  already  remarked, 
is  true  of  cattle  and  horses;  so  that  the  mere 
worldling  finds  it  for  his  interest  to  rest  on  the 
Lord's  day. 

A  fact  occurs  to  us  here,  which  is  directly  in 
point.  Not  many  years  ago,  a  contractor  went  on 
to  the  west,  with  his  hired  men  and  teams,  to  make 
a  turnpike  road.  At  first,  he  paid  no  regard  to 
the  Sabbath ;  but  continued  his  work  as  on  other 
days.  He  soon  found,  however,  that  the  ordi- 
nances of  nature,  no  less  than  the  moral  law,  were 
against  him. ,  His  laborers  became  sickly ;  his 
teams  grew  poor  and  feeble,  and  being  fully  con- 
vinced, that  more  was  lost  than  gained  by  working 
on  the  Lord's  day,  he  desisted.  So  true  is  it,  that 
the  Sabbaih  day  laborer,  like  the  glutton  and  the 
drunkard,  undermines  his  health,  and  prematurely 
hastens  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  his  exit  from 
this  world. 

SECTION    VI. 

The  Sabbath  has  been  kept  as  holy  time,  by  the 
people  of  God,  in  all  ages.  It  has  been  to  them, 
not  a  burden,  but  "a  delight,  the  holy  of  the 
Lord,  and  honorable."  That  such  eminent  saints 
as  Moses,  Joshua,  Samuel,  David,  and  Nehemi- 
8* 


90 

ah,  were  strict  and  constant  in  their  observance 
of  it,  cannot  be  doubted.  That  the  apostles 
and  primitive  churches  statedly  assembled  for 
public  worship,  on  the  Lord's  day,  is  certain.  And 
that  they  abstained  from  labor,  and  spent  the 
whole  day  in  religious  duties,  may  be  confidently 
inferred,  aivWell  from  their  eminent  piety,  as  from 
the  sanctions  of  the  Divine  Law,  which  they  can- 
not be  supposed  to  have  disregarded.  For  we 
have  already  proved,  that  Jesus  Christ  left  the 
law  as  he  found  it,  after  freeing  it  from  the  false 
glosses  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees.  The  disci- 
ples would,  of  course,  take  it  from  him.  And  as 
the  people  of  God  had  ahvays  done  before  them, 
they  would  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy.  This  is  the  only  fair  and  legitimate  infer- 
ence, and  it  cannot  be  set  aside  by  any  thing  short 
of  direct  proof  to  the  contrary.  The  Bible  fur- 
nishes no  such  proof : — not  a  word,  nor  a  hint,  that^ 
Christians  of  the  apostolic  age,  did  their  own  work, 
or  found  their  own  pleasures,  on  the  Lord's  day. 
That  the  Sabbath  has  been  regarded  and  kept  as 
holy  time,  in  the  sense  already  explained,  and  in 
almost  every  subsequent  age,  might  be  proved  by 
innumerable  quotations  from  the  works  of  the 
Christian  fathers,  the  decrees  of  councils,  and 
the  statutes  of  ancient  kings,  as  well  as  from  the 
writings  and  practice  of  the  most  eminent  reform- 
ers and  brightest  luminaries  of  the  Church  within 
the  last  three  hundred  years.  But  we  can  only 
afford  room  for  a  few  brief  extracts. 
Ignatius^  a  disciple  of  the  apostle  John,  says, 


91 

*'  Let  every  one  that  loves  Christ,  keep  holy  the 
Lord's  day." 

Chrysostom  gives  this  reason,  why  Paul  ap- 
pointed the  first  day  of  the  week  for  collections  in 
the  churches  of  Corinth—"  Because  they  did  ab- 
stain from  all  works,  and  the  soul  was  more  cheer- 
ful for  the  rest  of  the  day." 

Ireniiis. — "  Each  of  us  spends  the  Sabbath  in  a 
spiritual  manner,  meditating  on  the  law  of  God 
with  delight,  and  contemplating  his  workmanship 
with  admiration." 

Eusebius,  in  his  life  of  Constantine,  assures  us, 
that  when  that  emperor  embraced  Christianity,  he 
appointed  that  the  Lord's  day  should  be  consecra- 
ted to  prayer,  and  commanded,  that  through  all 
the  Roman  empire,  they  should  forbear  to  labor 
or  do  any  work  on  the  Lord's  day. 

The  following  edict  of  the  Emperor  Leo,  A.  D. 
469,  is  very  explicit  and  remarkable.  "  It  is  our 
will  and  pleasure,  that  the  holy  day,  dedicated  to 
the  most  high  God,  should  not  be  spent  in  sensual 
recreations,  or  otherwise  profaned  by  suits  of  law." 
With  respect  to  farmers,  it  is  added,  "  As  to  the 
pretence,  that  by  this  rest,  an  opportunity  may  be 
lost — this  is  a  poor  reason,  considering  that  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  do  not  depend  so  much  on  the 
diligence  and  pains  of  men,  as  on  the  efficacy  of 
the  sun,  and  the  blessing  of  God.  We  command, 
therefore,  all,  whether  husbandmen  or  others,  to 
forbear  work  on  this  day  of  the  resurrection.  For 
if  other  people,  (meaning  the  Jews,)  keep  the  sha- 
dow of  this  day  in  a  solemn  rest  from  all  secular 
labor,  on  the  Sabbath,  how  much  rather  ought  we 


92 

to  observe  the  substance,  a  day  so  ennobled  by 
our  gracious  Lord,  who  saved  us  from  destruc- 
tion." In  France  and  Burgundy,  as  early  as  the 
sixth  century,  laws  were  made  to  the  same  effect. 
Charles  the  Great  of  France,  son  of  Pepin,  con- 
voked the  clergy,  to  make  canons  for  the  keeping 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  also  published  his  own  royal 
edict,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract.  "  We 
ordain,  (as  is  required  in  tlielaw  of  God,)  that 
no  man  do  any  servile  work  on  the  Lord's  day,  i.  e. 
that  they  employ  not  themselves  in  the  works  of 
husbandry,  in  dressing  their  vines,  ploughing  their 
ground,  making  hay,  felling  trees,  digging  in  the 
mines,  or  building  houses ;  that  they  do  not  go  a 
hunting  in  the  fields,  or  plead  in  courts  of  justice : 
but  that  they  all  come  to  church,  and  magnify  the 
Lord  their  God,  for  those  good  things,  which  are 
this  day  to  be  bestowed  upon  them  !" 

Of  Theodosius,  king  of  the  Bavarians,  it  is 
recorded,  "  that  he  would  not  permit  his  subjects 
to  yoke  their  oxen,  or  make  hay,  or  carry  it  in  on 
the  Lord's  day." 

The  canons  and  constitutions  of  the  churches, 
enjoining  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  with 
equal  strictness,  are  too  numerous  and  too  long  to 
be  transcribed.  But  we  cannot  doubt,  that  the 
practice  of  those  who  really  feared  God  in  those 
early  ages  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  corres- 
ponded, in  a  good  degree,  with  the  letter  and  spir- 
it of  the  laws,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  to 
which  we  have  just  refered.  The  principles  and 
habits  of  the  early  settlers  of  our  country,  in  re- 
gard to  the  Sabbathj  are  too  well  known  to  require 


93 

any  thing  more  than  a  passing  remark.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  that  they  were  men  who  "  feared  God 
and  kept  his  commandments ;"  and  that  they  re- 
garded a  devout  observance  of  the  Lord's  day,  as 
essential  to  the  preservation  of  all  their  civil  and 
religious  institutions. 

We  bless  God,  that  in  our  own  times,  there  is 
something  more  than  a  "  remnant"  left,  to  reve- 
rence and  defend  the  sacred  institution ;  that,  not- 
withstanding the  reiterated  assaults  of  open  ene- 
mies, and  the  more  dangerous  mining  of  false 
friends,  multitudes  still  cleave  to  it,  as  the  sheet 
anchor  of  our  political  ark,  and  the  safety  of  our 
civil  rights,  no  less  than  the  guardian  angel  of  the 
Church. 

Conclusion. 

Here,  then,  upon  the  broad  basis  of  Divine 
Constitution,  we  take  our  stand ;  and  appeal  to 
those  who  have  followed  us  thus  far,  whether  we 
have  not  satisfactorily  proved, 

First.  That  the  Sabbath  emanated  directly 
from  the  will  and  authority  of  God  himself. 

Secondly.  That  He  instituted  it,  when  he  rest- 
ed from  all  his  work,  on  the  seventh  day  of  the 
first  week,  and  gave  it  primarily  to  our  first  pa- 
rents, and,  through  them,  to  all  their  posterity : 

Thirdly.  That  the  observance  of  it  was  en- 
joined upon  the  children  of  Israel,  soon  after  they 
left  Egypt,  not  in  the  form  of  a  new  enactment^ 
but  as  an  ancient  institution,  Avhich  was  far  from 
being  forgotten,  though  it  had  doubtless  been 
greatly  neglected  under  the  cruel  domination  o 
their  heathen  masters : 


94 

Fourthly.  That  it  was  re-enacted  with  great 
pomp  and  solemnity,  and  written  in  stone,  by  the 
finger  of  God,  at  Sinai : 

Fifthly.  That  the  sacred  institution  then  took 
the  regular  form  of  a  statute,  with  explicit  prolii- 
bitions  and  requirements,  which  have  never  been 
repealed. 

Sixthly.  That  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  can  never 
expire  of  itself,  because  it  contains  no  limitations. 

Seventhly.  That  at  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
the  Sabbath  was  changed  from  the  seventh  to  the 
first  day  of  the  week : 

Eighthly.  That  we  are  bound  to  keep  and 
sanctify  the  Lord's  day,  according  to  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  fourth  commandment : 

Ninthly.  That  this  has  been  the  current  and 
practical  exposition  of  the  sabbatical  law,  where- 
ever  the  divine  authority  of  the  Scripture  has  been 
recognized,  from  the  apostolic  age  down  to  the 
present  time. 

And  now,  "  what  shall  we  more  say  ?"  In  ar- 
gumg  this  cause,  we  have  appealed  "  to  the  law 
and  the  testimony ;"  the  highest  authority  in  the 
universe :  and,  if  we  have  not  entirely  mistaken 
the  divine  record,  the  great  question  is  settled. 
The  claims  of  the  Sabbath  are  imperative  upon 
every  conscience.  Reader,  will  you  admit,  or 
will  you  reject  these  claims  ?  Remember,  that  if 
you  reject  them,  you  do  it  at  your  peril ;  for  it  is 
not  an  institution  of  man,  but  of  your  Creator  and 
Judge,  that  you  trample  under  foot. 

We  love  and  honor  the  men  who  have  so  unan- 
swerably proved,  that  the  Sabbath,  regarded  mere- 
ly in  the  light  of  a  civil  institution,  is  literally 
above  all  price;  and  that  it  cannot  be  overthrown, 
without,  at  the  same  time,  shaking  down  the  three 
great  pillars  of  the  republic — education.,  morality., 
and  religion.  Surely,  if  the  argument  could  be 
pressed  no  further,  that  must  be  a  reckless  and 


95 

fool-hardy  assailant,  who  should  attempt  to  bring 
down  this  glorious  edifice  in  ruins  upon  himseli^ 
his  children,  and  his  country. 

But  the  ground  which  we  take,  it  is  needless  to 
say,  is  far  higher  and  holier  than  this.  While  we 
recognise  all  the  political  and  other  temporal  bless- 
ings which  flow  from  a  right  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  we  trace  them  back  to  the  garden  of 
Eden,  and  up  to  the  awful  top  of  Sinai.  We  ap- 
peal to  the  tables  of  stone,  and  to  the  lively  oracles 
of  God.  Whatever  defects  there  may  be  in  the 
wisest  human  institutions ;  whatever  plausible  ob- 
jections may  be  alleged  against  their  most  useful 
provisions;  or,  however  the  force  of  obligation 
may  be  evaded,  when  man  utters  his  authority ; 
the  divine  law  is  perfect,  and  ultimate  evasion  is 
impossible. 

And  it  is  this  consideration,  chiefly,  which 
makes  us  tremble  for  the  "  Ark  of  the  Lord,"  and 
for  the  liberties  of  our  country.  Every  violation 
of  the  Sabbath  is  virtual  rebellion  against  Him 
who  ordained  and  sanctified  it.  In  no  case,  not 
even  that  of  ignorance,  in  a  Christian  land,  will 
He  hold  the  Sabbath-breaker  guiltless ;  and,  with 
the  light  which  multitudes  have,  every  violation  of 
the  law  is  a  "  running  upon  the  thick  bosses  of 
his  buckler."  In  his  Avord  and  in  his  providence, 
God  speaks  on  this  subject  with  an  explicitness 
and  emphasis  which  ought  to  make  the  ears  of  the 
whole  nation  tingle !  "  Then  I  contended  with  the 
nobles  of  Judah,  and  said  unto  them,  what  evil 
thing  is  this  which  ye  do,  and  profane  the  Sabbath 
day?  Did  not  your  fathers  thus;  and  did  not 
God  bring  all  this  evil  upon  us  and  upon  this  city?" 
"  Yet  ye  bring  more  wrath  upon  Israel  by  profa- 
ning the  Sabbath."— Neh.  xiii.  "  If  ye  will  not 
hearken  unto  me,  to  hallow  the  Sabbath,  and  not 
bear  a  burden  entering  in  at  the  gates  of  Jerusa- 
lem on  the  Sabbath  day ;  then  will  I  kindle  a  fire 


96 

in  the  gates  thereof,  and  it  shall  devour  the  pa- 
laces of  Jerusp.lem,  and  it  shall  not  be  quenched" — 
Jer.  xvii.  "  And  I  will  scatter  you  among  the 
heathen,  and  draw  out  the  sword  after  you,  and 
your  land  shall  be  desolate,  and  your  cities  waste. 
Then  shall  the  land  enjoy  her  Sabbaths,  as  long  as 
it  lieth  desolate,  and  ye  shall  be  in  your  enemies' 
land ;  even  then  shall  the  land  rest  and  enjoy  her 
Sabbaths" — Lev.  xxxvi. 

It  must  certainly  be  admitted  that  these  quota- 
tions express,  as  clearly  and  forcibly  as  language 
can  express,  the  high  and  holy  displeasure  of 
God  against  Sabbath-breaking.  This  crying  na- 
tional sin,  (with  the  single  exception  of  idolatry,) 
contributed  more  than  any  other  to  bring  wrath 
upon  Israel,  and  to  sweep  them  into  captivity. 
Now  the  only  question  is,  whether  God  regards 
Sabbath-breaking  with  equal  displeasure  in  other 
nations.  And  why  should  he  not?  He  is  the 
same  holy  Being  that  he  was  three  thousand  years 
ago.  The  nature  of  sin  is  the  same.  The  moral 
law,  including  the  fourth  commandment,  is  the 
same.  Human  obligation  is  the  same.  Nations 
are  regarded  and  treated  as  moral  persons  now, 
just  as  the  Jews  were  under  their  judges  and 
kings ;  and  national  sins  have  the  same  tendency 
to  sear  the  public  conscience,  and  underihine  the 
foundations  of  social  order.  ^Vhy  then  should  not 
these  sins  be  punished  with  divine  retributions, 
equally  terrible?  We  have  not  room,  here,  to 
enter  into  a  discussion  of  this  subject,  though  we 
can  hardly  think  of  one  more  important.  It  must, 
it  will,  be  fully  discussed  by  some  of  those  able 
men,  in  this  great  Christian  community,  who  fear 
God  and  love  their  country. 

In  the  mean  time,  let  such  as  deny  the  doctrine 
of  national  accountabihty,  for  cherished  and  even 
authoritative  violations  of  the  fourth  command- 
ment, "  mock  on."    God  will  vindicate  the  honor 


97 

of  his  own  law,  however  it  may  be  assailed, 
whether  by  ingenious  sophistry  or  open  defiance. 
One  of  the  first  acts  of  avowed  atheism  in  revolu- 
tionary France,  was  to  abolish  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath; and  the  Lord  came  out  against  her  with 
"  fire  and  with  his  chariots  like  a  whirlwind,  to 
render  his  anger  with  fury,  and  his  rebukes  with 
flames  of  fire."  Well  appointed  fleets  and  armies 
have  often  been  discomfited  in  their  offensive  ope- 
rations on  the  Sabbath.  Three  remarkable  in- 
stances occur  to  us  at  this  moment,  in  the  history 
of  the  last  war.  The  first  was  the  attack  of  the 
British  and  their  total  defeat  on  Lake  Erie.  The 
second  was  the  battle  on  Lake  Champlain  and  at 
Plattsburgh.  The  third  was  the  last  assault  upon 
the  American  lines,  before  New-Orleans.  All  these 
sanguinary  battles  were  fought,  unless  we  are 
greatly  mistaken,  on  the  Lord's  day ;  in  each  the 
assailant  met  with  a  signal  overthrow.  Let  politi- 
cians and  historians  ascribe  all  this  to  valor,  or 
chance,  or  whatever  else  they  please,  we  shall  still 
regard  such  events  as  no  equivocal  testimony  of 
the  anger  of  God  against  the  despisers  of  his 
Sabbaths. 

If  from  the  sins  and  punishments  of  nations  and 
armies  on  the  Lord's  day,  we  pass  to  those  of  in- 
dividuals, Ave  are  brought  to  the  same  conclusion. 
Who  does  not  know,  that  in  almost  every  confes- 
sion from  the  gallows.  Sabbath-breaking  is  men- 
tioned as  one  of  the  principal  sins  which  gradually 
led  on  to  robbery,  rape,  and  murder  ?  Were  a 
Howard  to  go  through  all  our  prisons,  and  take 
the  honest  confession  of  every  wretched  inmate, 
who  can  doubt,  that  nine  tenths  of  the  whole  num- 
ber would  put  down  their  disregard  to  the  Sabbath 
among  the  causes  of  their  ruin  ?  And  what  an  af- 
fecting view  is  here  of  the  anger  of  God,  against 
the  crying  sin  of  which  we  are  speaking.  It  is  as 
if  all  the  dread  machinery  of  capital  punishments 


98 

— the  bolts,  and  cells,  and  chains  of  every  prison- 
house  in  the  land,  were  to  speak  out  as  witnesses 
of  God's  indignation. 

We  say  little  here  of  the  multitudes  who  are 
suddenly  hurried  into  eternity,  in  the  very  act  of 
profaning  the  Sabbath — of  the  dying  shrieks  which 
come  up  from  the  bosom  of  the  closing  waters  ; 
and  the  habiliments  of  mourning  which  tell  of 
husbands,  brothers,  sisters,  and  children,  who 
went  out  for  pleasure  when  the  bell  called  them 
to  the  sanctuary,  and  never  returned  !  Let  those 
who  see  no  sign,  and  hear  no  voice  of  high  and 
dreadful  displeasure  in  all  this,  account  for  it  as 
they  may.  The  record  of  facts  speaks  for  itself, 
and  the  record  will  stand,  that  thousands  thus 
perish  suddenly  in  all  the  glee  and  temerity  of 
transgression. 

God  also  often  frowns  upon  the  despisers  of  his 
law,  and  manifests  his  holy  displeasure  by  the 
manner  in  which  he  takes  from  them  their  Sab- 
bath-day earnings. 

So  recent  is  one  instance,  that  the  fire  has  scarce- 
ly gone  out  which  was  set  by  a  man  in  the  town 

of to  a  small  piece  of  cleared  land,  which 

consumed  his  barn,  together  with  a  valuable  horse 
and  other  property,  and  from  which  his  house 
was  with  difficulty  saved.  "  This  very  miprofi ta- 
ble piece  of  business  to  a  poor  man,"  says  the  ac- 
count, "  should  operate  as  a  caution  to  all  who 
are  inclined  to  use  holy  time  for  worldly  purposes, 
as  well  as  to  those  who  deny  the  doctrine  of  re- 
tributive justice." 

Another  instance  which  now  occurs  to  our  re- 
collection, is  still  more  striking.  A  few  years  ago, 
a  person  owning  a  piece  of  land  which  was  so 
situated  that  he  could  labor  upon  it  without  ex- 
posing himself  to  public  view,  determined  to 
spend  his  Sabbaths  in  bringing  it  under  cultiva- 
tion. Accordingly,  he  cleared  and  burnt  it  over  on 


99 

the  Sabbath.  He  ploughed  and  sowed  it  on  the 
Sabbath.  The  produce  was  a  fine  crop  of  wheat, 
which  he  harvested  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and  deposited 
on  the  Sabbath  in  a  large  and  valuable  saw-mill, 
which  stood  upon  the  premises.  And  the  very- 
next  Sabbath,  the  whole  was  consumed  by  a  flash  of 
lightning !  "  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 

That  there  is  nothing  miraculous  in  any  of  the 
cases  which  have  been  mentioned,  does  not  mili- 
tate in  the  least  against  the  position  we  have  taken, 
unless  it  be  proved  that  God  cannot  punish  com- 
munities and  individuals  in  any  other  way.  But 
who  will  attempt  to  prove  this  ?  Surely  no  one, 
so  long  as  he  is  in  his  right  mind.  "  God  is  Go- 
vernor among  the  nations ;"  and  he  can  never  be 
at  a  loss  how  to  employ  natural  agents  and  moral 
causes,  either  to  chastise,  or  utterly  to  destroy  the 
despisers  of  his  law. 

Who,  then,  in  this  great  controversy,  is  on  the 
Lord's  side  ?  Who  is  in  favor  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  and  who  against  it?  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  neutrality,  when  the  claims  of  the  divine 
law  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the  conscience.  Do 
you  then  reverence  the  Lord's  day,  in  the  spiritu- 
ality of  your  affections,  and  honor  it  by  your  exam- 
ple, and  strive  to  shield  it  from  profanation  by  your 
influence 1 

Professors  of  religion,  members  of  the  church, 
to  whatever  denomination  you  belong — the  Lord 
of  the  Sabbath  expects  much  from  you.  You  have 
publicly  sworn  allegiance  to  him,  and  he  requires 
you  to  redeem  your  solemn  pledge,  by  rallying 
round  the  sacred  institution.  Especially  does  he 
require  the  most  unequivocal  proofs  of  loyalty,  in 
your  personal  obedience  to  the  law  of  the  Sabbath. 
If  you  break  the  law,  how  can  it  be  expected  that 
others  will  respect  it  ?  If  you  engage  in  any  se- 
cular business  whatever,  if  you  are  seen  in  stages, 
and  steam-boats,  and  canal  packets,  or  traveling 


100 

for  business  or  pleasure  in  your  own  private  con- 
veyances on  the  Lord's  day,  you  not  only  sin 
against  your  own  souls,  but  lend  the  whole  weight 
of  your  example,  to  embolden  others  in  transgres- 
sion. Dare  you  advance  in  a  course  like  this  ? 
What !  see  you  not  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  stand- 
ing in  the  way  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand  to 
oppose  you  ?  Neutral  ground  you  cannot  take ; 
for  if  you  are  not  openly  for  the  Sabbath,  you 
are  virtually  against  it. 

Come  up  then,  at  once,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord, 
grasping  the  "  weapons  of  your  christian  warfare 
which  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God,  to 
the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds."  Much,  very 
much,  dear  brethren,  might  you  do  with  sucli 
weapons,  and  in  so  holy  a  cause,  if  you  could 
muster  no  more  than  ten,  to  a  thousand  of  your 
enemies.  But  you  are  very  far  from  being  this 
small  and  feeble  minority.  Including  all  Chris- 
tian denominations  in  the  United  States,  you 
number  at  least  nine  hundred  thousand,  who 
have  sworn  allegiance  to  the  King  of  heaven ; 
and,  if  you  are  despised — if  your  suppliant  voice 
is  not  heard  in  the  high  places  of  power — if  your 
civil  rights,  and  your  rights  of  conscience,  are  de- 
liberately disregarded,  it  must  be,  in  a  great 
measure,  your  own  fault.  It  must  be, 'because 
you  have  not  done  what  you  could  in  the  circles 
of  your  Christian  influence — because  sectarian 
jealousies  have  been  diligently  fomented  by  your 
common  enemies,  to  prevent  you  from  uniting  in 
those  measures,  to  rescue  the  Sabbath  from  profa- 
nation, which  your  privileges  as  freemen,  and  your 
duty  as  Christians,  so  imperiously  urge  you  to 
adopt. 

"  The  children  of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their 
generation  than  the  children  of  light."  Their 
motto  is.  Divide  and  Conquer.  Hence,  as  they 
perceive  that  your  more  frequent  intercourse  and 


101 

growing  Catholicism  are  "  breaking  down  the  mid- 
dle wall  of  partition,"  and  bringing  you  "  to  see 
eye  to  eye,"  on  a  great  and  vitally  important  sub- 
ject, you  are,  if  possible,  to  be  repelled  and  scat- 
tered by  the  magical  spell  of  the  words.  Priest- 
crafty  Religious  Establishuient,  Rights  of  Con- 
science, Church  and  State,  &c.  &c.  You  will,  if 
possible,  be  made  to  believe,  that,  as  members  of 
different  communions,  as  Baptists,  Methodists, 
Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists, 
you  cannot  trust  one  another ;  that  your  dearest 
Christian  rights  are  in  danger  ;  that  somebody  is 
somewhere  conspiring  to  wrest  from  you  that  '•  li- 
berty wherewith  Christ  has  made  you  free."  But 
will  you  thus  wrong  and  distrust  your  brethren, 
by  giving  heed  to  calumny  and  fables  ?  Is  there 
a  shadow  of  evidence  that  any  such  conspiracy 
exists  ?  If  so,  let  it  be  adduced  ;  and  let  the  men 
who  would  "  lord  it  over  God's  heritage,"  under 
the  mask  of  zeal  for  the  Sabbath,  or  under  any 
other  mask,  be  held  up  to  universal  reprobation. 
But,  dear  brethren,  you  know  that  the  charge  is 
false.  You  know  that  the  General  Union,  which 
you  have  recently  formed,  aims  at  no  spiritual 
(domination ;  but  simply,  (what  it  professes  and 
avows,)  to  promote  a  better  sanctification  of  the 
Lord's  day.  And,  surely,  you  will  not  permit  a 
few  ghostly  watch-words  to  create  the  most  un- 
founded jealousies  between  your  respective  de- 
nominations, and  thus  drive  you  from  your  noble, 
your  godlike  purpose. 

Opposition  you  will  certainly  meet  with  ;  and 
much,  no  doubt,  to  try  your  faith  and  your  princi- 
ples ;  but  because  you  may  be  opposed  and  vilifi- 
ed, and,  for  a  time,  borne  down  by  numbers,  and 
clamor,  and  authority,  will  you  abandon  the 
great  cause  of  the  Sabbath  in  which  you  have 
embarked ;  or  despairingly  ask,  What  can  we  do 
against  such  "fearful  odds?"     What  can  nine 


102 

hundred  thousand  professing  Christians  dOj 
assisted,  as  you  will  be,  by  many  ten  thousands  of 
others,  who  reverence  the  institutions  of  their  fa- 
thers, and  love  their  country  !  What  can  you  not 
do,  by  prayer,  and  example,  and  union,  and  per- 
severance ? 

Brethren,  God  has  given  you  a  moral  influence 
in  this  nation,  sufficient,  if  wisely  employed,  to  ar- 
rest the  swelling  tide  of  irreligion,  worldliness,  and 
pleasure,  which  now  threatens  to  sweep  away  the 
Sabbath,  with  all  the  mighty  interests  of  time  and 
eternity,  which  are  bound  up  in  its  destiny.  And, 
if  you  have  the  moral  power  to  assuage  this  deluge 
of  sin,  and  restore  to  the  land  her  weekly  rest, 
need  we  say,  that  you  are  answerable  to  God  and 
to  posterity  for  the  exercise  of  that  power  ?  Do 
not  flatter  yourselves,  that  "  pure  and  undefiled 
religion"  can  be  preserved  a  single  month  after 
the  Sabbath  is  gone :  for  the  house  of  God  will  be 
immediately  shut  up,  or  thrown  down ;  your  mi- 
nisters will  be  driven  from  the  altar ;  the  hallowed 
fires  will  be  extinguished  on  all  the  heights  of 
Zion ;  the  Church  will  be  clothed  in  sackcloth ; 
her  tears  will  be  all  the  day  and  all  the  night "  upon 
her  cheeks ;"  and  the  strings  of  her  "  harps  upon 
the  willows,"  will  be  swept  only  "  by  the  mournful 
breezes  of  the  surrounding  desolation." 

Ministers  of  the  Gospel— u^on  you  there  rests 
an  amazing  responsibility.  You  are  set  for  the 
defence  of  every  holy  institution.  The  Sabbath 
pre-eminently  belongs  to  you,  as  the  rest  of  the 
week  does  to  men  of  other  occupations.  You  can 
do  nothing  without  it.  You  cannot  even  gain  a 
liearing  from  the  multitudes  who  are  thronging 
the  broad  way  to  destruction.  On  the  Sabbath, 
you  stand  upon  high  vantage-ground,  to  wield 
"  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,"  and  to  subdue  the  ene- 
mies of  Christ.  Be  valiant,  then,  in  defence  of 
the  day  which  God  has  given  you  for  the  exercise 


103 

of  your  most  sacred  functions.  To  you,  especial- 
ly, it  belongs  to  hold  up  the  fourth  commandment, 
and,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  to  urge  its  divine 
and  perpetual  obhgations.  Present  these  obliga^ 
tions,  then,  in  all  their  strictness,  and  in  their  full 
extent.  Listen  to  no  compromise.  Heed  no 
railing.  Shrink  from  no  discussion.  Turn  your 
backs  upon  no  enemy.  Take  counsel  of  no  time- 
serving policy.  However  much  you  may  insist 
on  the  importance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a  mere  politi- 
cal institution,  let  your  grand  and  ultimate  appeal 
be  to  the  scriptures.  One,  "  thus  saith  the  Lord^'' 
is  worth  a  thousand  arguments  drawn  from  any 
other  source.  "  It  is  the  Word  of  God,  that  is 
quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword."  The  edge  of  every  other  weapon  may 
be  turned  by  a  flinty  heart ;  but  this,  though  it 
may  be  long  parried,  will  pierce  at  last,  "  even  to 
the  dividing  asunder  of  the  soul  and  the  spirit,  of 
the  joints  and  the  marrow."  Much  you  may  do, 
also,  in  this  sacred  cause,  by  holy  example.  And 
remember,  that  a  thousand  eyes  are  upon  you. 
The  slightest  infringement  of  the  Lord's  day,  by 
any  of  you,  will  be  noticed.  "  Abstain,  therefore, 
in  this  matter,  as  Avell  as  every  other,  from  all  ap- 
pearance of  evil."  As  the  man  who  preaches 
temperance,  must  drink  nothing  himself,  so  he  that 
exhorts  others  to  "  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy,"  must,  on  no  account,  forget,  or  seem 
to  forget,  his  own  exhortations. 

Guardians  and  Instructers  of  our  Youth^  in 
the  higher  Literary  Institutions — you  can  scarce- 
ly conceive  with  what  interest  all  the  friends  of 
the  Sabbath  look  to  you.  Under  your  hands  are 
rising  up  not  only  the  public  teachers  of  science, 
morality,  and  religion,  but  the  future  law-givers 
of  the  nation.  The  young  men  whose  characters 
you  are  moulding,  will  soon  occupy  posts  of  power 
and  responsibility,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  sources 


104 

of  the  Missouri.  See  to  it,  therefore,  that  you 
give  their  minds  a  riglit  moral  direction.  Enforce 
upon  them,  both  by  precept  and  example,  the  high 
and  sacred  obligations  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 
YoM  cannot,  indeed,  make  them  all  "  esteem  it  a 
delight,"  for  this  requires  holy  affections  ;  but  you 
can  enforce  the  duty  of  keeping  it,  by  all  the  au- 
thority/ of  Scripture— by  all  its  obvious  weekly 
blessings,  and  by  all  the  dearest  interests  of  a 
great  and  growing  empire.  By  the  blessing  of 
Ood  upon  your  efforts,  very  many  may  be  induced 
7iot  only  to  sanctify  the  Lord's  day  themselves,  but 
to  exert  a  powerful  influence,  to  shield  it  from 
profanation,  and  to  restore  it  to  its  ancient  and 
honorable  standing  in  the  decalogue. 

Friends  and  Teacliers  of  our  beloved  Chil- 
dren^ in  those  sacred  Seminaries  of  the  Churchy 
vmich  are  vinlii ■plying  all  over  the  land — forget 
not  to  remind  3'our  confiding  pupils  of  the  sa- 
cred ness  of  tlie  day  on  which  you  meet  them. 
Enrich  their  minds  with  all  those  passages  of 
Scripture,  which  enjoin  the  sanctification  of  the 
Sabbath.  Teach  them  the  nature  and  design  of 
the  Institution,  and  make  it  a  leading  object  to 
imprint  its  high  and  holy  claims  indelibly  upon 
their  hearts  and  consciences.  They  will  bless 
you  for  it,  as  long  as  they  live :  the  Church  will 
pour  her  grateful  benedictions  upon  your  heads, 
and  future  generations  will  rise  up  and  call  you 
blessed. 

Parents  of  young  and  rising  families — con- 
sider, we  beseech  you,  what  an  amazing  influence 
your  example  and  precepts  will  have  upon  your 
children,  and,  through  them,  upon  the  cause  of 
religion,  and  the  general  prosperity  of  the  nation. 
Do  you  wish  to  see  your  sons  and  daughters  vir- 
tuous and  happy  ? — teach  them  to  "  keep  God's 
Sabbaths,  and  to  reverence  his  sanctuary."  Would 
you  employ  the  most  effectual  means  to  establish 


105 

your  authority  over  them,  and  to  secure  their  fu- 
ture reverence  for  your  gray  hairs  ? — teach  them  to 
"  remember  the  Sabbath  day,  and  keep  it  holy." 
Would  you  train  them  up  for  distinguished  useful- 
ness in  any  station  whatever  ? — teach  them  dili- 
gentl}'-  the  same  divine  lesson.  And  would  you  en- 
sure their  final  salvation,  you  cannot  lay  too  much 
stress  upon  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath.  In 
short,  this  is  the  first  thing,  the  second  thing,  and 
the  third  thing,  in  a  well-conducted  Christian 
education. 

But  if  these  and  similar  motives  cannot  reach 
you  ;  if  you  care  not  what  becomes  of  your  own 
flesh ;  if  you  are  willing  to  trust  the  keeping  of 
their  morals  and  their  happiness  to  the  wayward 
propensities  of  unsanctified  nature ;  if  you  covet 
from  them  disobedience,  neglect,  and  abuse  in 
this  world ;  their  withering  testimony  at  the  bar 
of  God ;  and  their  bitter  execrations  to  all  eternity ; 
then  let  them  profane  the  Lord's  day  as  much  as 
they  please ;  let  them  sport,  and  fish,  and  hunt, 
and  launch  the  sail-boat,  and  lounge  in  the  tavern, 
while  others  are  in  the  church  and  the  Sabbath 
school.  And,  lest  they  should,  after  all,  become 
dissatisfied  with  the  "  broad  way,"  encourage  them 
by  your  own  example.  Wander  about  your  farms, 
and  see  that  all  is  right  with  your  flocks,  and  herds, 
and  fences ;  or  go  into  your  shops  and  counting- 
rooms  ;  or  travel  with  the  mail,  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  government,  and  the  curse  of  Heaven ; 
or  meet  your  companions  in  the  grog-shop,  or  on 
the  sunny  side  of  the  distillery.  Attend  every 
anti-Sabbath  meeting,  and  vote  for  the  resolutions, 
and  sign  the  remonstrance.  Denounce  all  the 
Sabbath-keeping  boats,  and  stages,  and  all  the 
petitions  to  congress,  as  invasions  of  the  rights  of 
conscience,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
country.  Such  a  course  will  be  likely  to  do  the 
work  for  your  families  soon,  and  do  it  effectually. 


106 

It  will  bring  3^011,  by  a  short  route,  to  the  brink  of 
that  gulf  into  which  you  may  plunge  in  vain  to 
rescue  your  sons  and  daughters  from  destruction. 

Honored  and  respected  rulers  of  the  land,  our 
final  appeal  is  to  you. — The  Scriptures  teach  us 
to  regard  you  as  ministers  of  God  for  good  to  this 
great  people  ;  and  how  can  you  so  effectually  se- 
cure their  enduring  prosperity,  ashy  exerting  your 
influence  to  make  them  virtuous  ?  And  what  in- 
stitution was  ever  so  pre-eminently  calculated  to 
effect  this  object,  as  the  Christian  Sabbath?  As 
a  school  of  morals,  it  stands  far,  very  far,  above 
every  other. 

By  recalling  men  so  frequently  from  the  pur- 
suits of  wealth  and  power,  and  worldly  glory,  it 
represses  their  feverish  ardour,  and  gives  them 
time  to  contrast  the  perishing  objects  of  their 
toils,  with  "  durable  riches  and  righteousness." 
By  assembling  persons  of  all  classes  upon  the 
same  level  once  every  week,  the  Sabbath  warms 
and  softens  the  heart,  allays,  the  fierce  and  wrath- 
ful passions,  and  quickens  into  life  and  energy  that 
heavenly  charity  "  which  is  the  bond  of  perfect- 
ness."  The  Sabbath,  including  prayer,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  public  worship,  and  family  instruction, 
does  more  than  every  thing  else  to  form  a  truly 
virtuous  community. 

But  for  the  moral  power  of  Sabbatical  institu- 
tions, whose  property  or  reputation  would  be  safe 
for  a  single  day  ?  Who  could  be  found  to  execute 
the  laws  against  debasing  immoralities  ?  Or  what 
could  hinder  their  increasing,  and  destroying  all 
that  is  pure  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report?  Much 
as  the  Lord's  day  is  profaned  in  this  country,  even 
now  it  does  ten-fold  more  than  all  our  prisons  and 
other  legal  terrors,  to  perpetuate  and  multiply  our 
social,  civil,  and  religious  blessings.  Take  away 
this  barrier,  and  you  open  at  once  all  the  flood- 
gates of  vice  and  irreligion.     You  may  still  try  to 


107 

sustain  our  free  and  admired  civil  institutions,  but 
your  efforts  will  be  vain.  "  The  overflowing 
scourge  will  pass  through  ;"  and  neither  you  nor 
your  children  can  hope  to  escape. 

"  Give  up  the  Sabbath — blot  out  that  orb  of  day 
— suspend  its  blessed  attractions — and  the  reign  of 
chaos  and  old  night  would  return.  The  waves  of 
our  unquiet  sea,  high  as  our  mountains,  would  roll 
and  dash,  from  west  to  east,  and  east  to  west,  from 
south  to  north,  and  north  to  south,  shipwrecking 
the  hopes  of  patriots  and  the  world. 

"  Who,  then,  is  the  patriot  that  would  thrust  out 
our  ship  from  her  peaceful  moorings,  in  a  starless 
night,  upon  such  an  ocean  of  storms,  without  rud- 
der, or  anchor,  or  compass,  or  chart  ?  The  ele- 
ments around  us  may  remain,  and  our  giant  rivers 
and  mountains.  Our  miserable  descendants,  also, 
may  multiply,  and  vegetate,  and  rot  in  moral  dark- 
ness and  putrefaction.  But  the  American  charac- 
ter, and  our  glorious  institutions,  will  go  down  into 
the  same  grave  that  entombs  the  Sabbath  ;  and  our 
epitaph  will  stand  forth  a  warning  to  the  world-" 


TH£  END. 


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